chapter 7 Flashcards
Collective: What is collective responsibility?
-The convention that all cabinet ministers are collectively responsible for all executive policies & decisions. This means that all ministers will publicly support all official policy.
Collective: What are the five principles of collective responsibility?
-Ministers are collectively responsible for all government policy.
-All ministers must publicly support all government policy, even if they privately disagree.
-If a minister wants to publicly criticise policy, they should resign.
-If a minister dissents w/o resigning, they can expect to be dismissed.
-Cabinet meetings are secret, so any dissent within government is concealed.
Collective: Why is it important? Why is it problematic?
-Strengthens the PM’s authority, as they won’t be criticised by gov.
-Government presents a united front to the outside world.
-Gov can rely on the votes of all ministers in any close divisin in Commons. This is known as the payroll vote, and is about 120 guaranteed votes.
-However, it does restrict ministers from expressing their opinions which, arguably, restricts democracy. But this is undermined by the fact that they are able to express their opinions, just within cabinet.
Collective: What are some key exceptions?
-During the coalition, it would’ve been unbelievable for all ministers from different parties to completely agree on all policies, so the Coalition Agreement was set up. CR only applied to policies that both leaders agreed would be common to both ministers. The renewal of trident, for example, was excluded.
-CR was suspended when decision to call an EU referendum was decided. This allowed ministers to express views counter to the government’s stance of remain.
-May failed to exert CR when ministers openly criticised her Brexit deal. This was out of necessity, as forcing anyone to resign may have led to a loss of her already tenuous support.
Collective: Give some examples of resignations under the principle of collective ministerial responsibility.
-Boris Johnson: Had been May’s foreign sec, but disagreed with Brexit dealings and called the Chequers a ‘turd’ & resigned.
-Iain Duncan Smith: Had been work & pensions secretary. He stormed out saying that the cuts to disabled welfare were “a comprimise too far.”
-Robin Cook: Blair’s foreign sec, who resigned over Iraq.
Individual: What is individual ministerial responsibility?
-Each minister is independently responsible for the matters that affect their specific department. They are also responsible for their individual performance and conduct. In recent years, this has somewhat declined in importance.
Individual: What are the features of this principle?
-Ministers must be prepared to be held accountable to Parliament for the policies & decisions made by their department. This means answering to the house, and facing interrogation from select committees.
-If a minister makes a serious error of judgement, they are expected to resign.
-If a department makes a serious mistake, irrespective of the minister’s involvement, they are expected to resign.
-If the conduct of a minister falls below the standard of ministerial code, they must resign.
Individual: Give some examples of resignations under the principle of IMR.
-Matt Hancock: Had previously criticised Neil Ferguson’s breaking of social distancing restrictions, so his affair with Coladangelo was recieved with feelings of hypocrisy. It also illicited questions about the circumstances behind her employment.
-Nadhim Zahawi: He had underpaid his taxes, and an inquiry was called. Zahawi then denied knowing about the inquiry, and was sacked by Rishi.
Individual: What evidence is there that the significance of IMR is diminishing?
-Gavin Williamson: Despite criticism for the ‘Centre-Assessed Grades’ during the pandemic, Williamson did not resign. Instead, he blamed the algorithm on Ofqual. This goes against the principle that he should’ve resigned on behalf of his department.
-Chris Grayling: In 2018, Grayling approved reforms to make railway companies more effective. These were very ineffective, though and caused a crisis. Grayling continued to serve as transport sec until Jan 2019.
-Priti Patel: In March 2020, Sir Philip Rutnam resigned in protest of Patel’s ‘bullying’. Patel did not resign, and instead issued a shoddy apology. Sir Alex Allan, who had led the inquiry, then resigned in protest.
Individual: Why is its significance decreasing?
-There is no specific way in which Parliament can remove an individual minister. They can call for a resignation, but only the PM can make the final call.
-The time when ministers resigned out of principle (rather than media pressure etc) due to their mistakes is largely over, with the most recent example being Amber Rudd in 2018 after the Windrush Scandal.
-Ministers resigning over personal conduct, though, has been maintained.
Powers: What is a Cabient Government? What is a Prime-Ministerial Government?
-C: A government in which the most powerful body in the state is the cabinet. The PM becomes merely the ‘first maong equals’.
-P: PM opts to use other sources of advice & information. This means that the direction & focus of government is decided w/o the need to talk it through cabinet.
Powers: What is a Presidential Government? How does Blair reflect this style?
-A style of government in which PMs increasingly resemble US presidents. The idea overlaps with the principles of a Prime-Ministerial gov, except this style is very much about the individual, as opposed to the party.
-Blair had been very much at the forefront of his electoral campaign, with key speeches like “education, education, education” defining the campaign.
-He had significant populist outreach, especially in his early years with his response to Diana’s death (coining ‘people’s princess) & the James Bludger Case.
Powers: How much power does the PM have in terms of their Royal Prerogative?
PROS
-PM can ensure appointments of loyal supporters, who share their ideological preferences through patronage.
-Patronage enables the PM to control people’s political careers, ensuring loyalty. This was seen when Thatcher purged her cabinet in 1983.
CONS
-Patronage is limited by the fact that, when hiring/firing ministers, the PM must take into account: party unity & ideological balance, the necessity of picking top talent, social balance, and controlling big beasts.
Powers: How much power does the PM have in terms of their power over cabinet?
PROS
-There are two bodies that serve the PM: PM’s office & cabinet office.
-These are staffed by civil servants and special advisors, who help the PM make well-informed decisions.
-Their influence is completely dependent on the PM. Blair was the first to give advisors control over civil servants.
CONS
-Compared to world leaders, there is relatively little institutional support for PMs
-Can lead to weakness, Alistair Campbell became a liability after Dr David Kelly’s death.
Powers: What are some factors that affect cabinet appointments? Give an example for each.
-Party unity. May had to appoint a mix of hard & soft Brexit supporters to keep the party unified.
-Experience. Cameron appointed former party leaders Iain Duncan Smith & William Hague to his coalition cabinet.
-Ability. Rishi Sunak was made Chancellor in 2020 after he proved his ability as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
-Allies & Advisors. Gordon Brown had Peter Mendelson made a peer so he could become a member of his cabinet.
-External Pressure. Amber Rudd was forced to resign after Windrush Scandal.
-Coalition Agreement. When Lib Dem MP, Chris Huhne resigned, he had to be replaced by another Lib Dem, Ed Davey.
-Diversity. Since 1997, there has been an increase in ministers who reflect minority backgrounds.
