Chapter 8 - Powers of the PM Flashcards
What does the term Patronage mean?
The power of an individual to appoint someone to an important position
Who does the PM have the power to appoint?
Approves one name for ecclesiastical (church) appointments
Life Peers
Has final say on list of honours
When was the cash for honours scandal?
2007
What honours related committee did Cameron create?
Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee
What power does the PM have over the Cabinet?
Appoints and dismisses ministers
Cabinet Reshuffles
Authority in the cabinet system
Why did Thatcher include both her supporters (Dries) and one-nation conservatives (wets)
To get more support from the party- not allow it to split into factions
Which rivals for Party Leadership did John Major appoint to senior cabinet positions in 1990?
Michael Heseltine and Douglas Hurd
Which rivals for Party Leadership did Tony Blair appoint to senior cabinet positions in 1997?
John Prescott and Margaret Beckett
What was the ‘Night of the Long Knives’?
Harold Macmillan’s 1962 botched reshuffle
What components of Authority in the Cabinet System are there? (Name 4)
- Chairs cabinet meetings
- Manages the agenda of meetings and decides their frequency and length
- Directs/sums up discussion
- Creates cabinet committees and appoints their members
- Holds bilateral meetings with ministers
- Appoints senior civil servants
- Organising the structure of government
Define Bilateral
A meeting between the PM and a departmental minister in which policy is agreed
How does the PM set the agenda of cabinet meetings?
- controls information presented
- keeps potentially difficult issues off the agenda (deals with them in bilateral meetings)
- Decides the chair and membership
How does party leadership effect the PM’s position?
Strengthens it
Who resigned from the Cabinet in 2009 and called for Gordon Brown to step down?
James Purnell
Why is public standing important?
A better public standing gives better authority
