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w UK Government 3 : Prime minister and the executive > Concepts of Ministerial responsibility > Flashcards

Concepts of Ministerial responsibility Flashcards

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1
Q

What is ministerial responsibility ?

A
  • Ministers are accountable for their action as an individual member of government and as a head of their department
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2
Q

What are ministers now more likely to resign for ?

A
  • Personal misconduct eg Priti Patel (2018 involved in unauthorised meetings with the government of Israel) and Mandelson (2001 over accusations of using his position to influence a passport application)
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3
Q

Ministers that have resigned for their own failures

A
  • Due to government functions that have been delegated to executive agencies
  • Eg Michael Howards (resigned following the loss of the 2005 election) + McLoughlin (2018 due to a disappointing performance in the 2017 election)
  • Priti Patel 2018 over unofficial meetings with Israel
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4
Q

Case study of Charles Clarke

A
  • 2006
  • Labour home secretary
  • Emerged 1000 foreign citizens who were released from prison were unaccounted for
  • “department had taken it’s eye off the ball” but refused to resign
  • 10 days after he lost his job in a reshuffle after media interest continued
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5
Q

David Laws

A
  • 2010

- Resigned due to the expenses scandal due to the disclosure of parliamentary expenses (individual)

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6
Q

Collective ministerial responsibility

A
  • Cabinet members must support the decisions of cabinet publicly or resign
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7
Q

Individual ministerial responsibility

A
  • Ministers are accountable for the actions of their department and their own
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8
Q

Liam Fox

A
  • 2011
  • Resigned over allegations he gave a close friend and lobbyist inappropriate access to the ministry of defence and allowed him to join official trips
  • Individual ministerial responsibility
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9
Q

Chris Huhne

A
  • 2012
  • Charged with perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case in which at the time his wife claimed she was driving the car to avoid him being banned from driving
  • Individual ministerial responsibility
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10
Q

Andrew Mitchell

A
  • 2012
  • Resigned from Chief whip when there was an alleged altercation with a police officer referred to as plebgate
  • Individual ministerial responsibility
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11
Q

What is the expected consequence of a minister misleading Parliament? Who is the ‘ultimate judge’ of ministerial standards and behaviour?

A
  • If a minister has misled Parliament they are expected to reign from their position, although this is only a convention
  • The PM is the ultimate judge of standards and behaviour, with this linking to the prerogative power of appointing/dismissing ministers.
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12
Q

How can it be argued that ministerial responsibility is in decline ?

A
  • 2022 Partygate scandal MPs are yet to resign following allegations of lockdown breaches
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13
Q

What impacts the fate of ministers when their conduct/departmental actions are under scrutiny? (3)

A
  • the severity of the situation
  • level of parliamentary/media criticism
  • the attitude of the PM.
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14
Q

How have ministers recently argued that they are not themselves responsible for some departmental failures?

A
  • Given that Government actions are now being delegated to executive agencies, the Secretary of State can argue that the error was committed by the head of the executive agency
  • they therefore should resign rather than the minister.
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15
Q

What recent example is there of the head of an Executive Agency being forced to resign rather than a minister?

A
  • In 2020, the head of OFQUAL, Sally Collier, was forced to resign over the exams fiasco rather than Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson.
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16
Q

How did Robin Cook resign due to the principle of collective ministerial responsibility? What role did he have?

A
  • 2007
  • Robin Cook resigned as Leader of the House of Commons in opposition to Tony Blair’s war in Iraq,
  • he did not believe the war to be lawful having not had a resolution from the UN
17
Q

How did Baroness Warsi resign due to the principle of collective ministerial responsibility?

A
  • 2014
  • Baroness Warsi resigned from her role as a Foreign Minister due to David Cameron’s policy of supporting Israeli settlements being built on the Gaza Strip
18
Q

When has Collective Ministerial Responsibility been suspended in the past?

A

The principle of Collective Ministerial Responsibility has previously been suspended during the 1975 and 2016 EU Referendums and the 2010-15 Coalition Agreement between CON + LIB.

19
Q

What is the ‘payroll vote’?

A
  • The ‘payroll vote’ is the formality that all Members of Parliament involved in Government will support legislation
  • This guarantees that a proposal will receive a certain number of votes.
20
Q

What are the positives of Collective Ministerial Responsibility?

A
  • Collective Ministerial Responsibility creates a strong and united front by all Cabinet ministers and the Government
  • it strengthens the power and legitimacy of the PM
  • guarantees the support of Cabinet ministers in Parliament
  • allows private disagreements.
21
Q

What are the negatives of Collective Ministerial Responsibility?

A
  • CMR effectively ‘gags’ ministers from expressing their own views
  • provides the PM with excessive power, resignations under CMR can heavily undermine a government.
22
Q

Matt Hancock

A
  • Resigned 2021
  • Following news he had breached COVID social distancing measures after kissing aide BUT only resigned following public backlash
23
Q

What has happened to ministerial responsibility in 2022 ?

A
  • Following partygate, Johnson has changed the ministerial code
  • Ministers will not always be expected to resign for breaching the code of conduct (instead they can apologise or temporarily lose their pay instead)
24
Q

2022 Example of collective ministerial responsibility

A
  • 2022 : Junior minister resigned over partygate
25
Q

2020 Resignation of minister

A
  • 2020 : A junior minister resigned over the government decision to not extend FSM over summer
26
Q

When has collective ministerial responsibility been suspended ?

A
  • 2010-15 Coalition

- 2016 : Brexit referendum and campaign

27
Q

Who failed to resign following the 2020 exam disaster ?

A
  • Gavin Williamson

- Instead the head of ofqual resigned

w UK Government 3 : Prime minister and the executive (3 decks)

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