examples - the executive Flashcards
Johnson chose Richard Sharp, a Tory sympathiser who has organised him a loan, as BBC chair in 2021 - he subequently resigned in 2023
example of PM having power over public appointments, sometimes unconstrained
Johnson wanted an election to get a parliamentary majority to get Brexit done almost as soon as he took over from May in summer 2019 but Labour refused to give support until December
the affect of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011-2021 on the PM’s ability to call an early election
- Thatcher with the Falklands 1992
- Blair with Kosovo 1999, Sierra Leone 2000 and Iraq 2003
examples of the PM exercising their prerogative powers over foreign policy
in 2013, Cameron let parliament vote on a potential air strike against the Syrian government after they had used chemical weapons in the civil war. Labour and some Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voted against so he couldn’t obtain approval. he respected the decision, viewing it as also representing the general consensus of the public
evidence of the PM not exercising their royal prerogative powers and instead listening to the wishes of parliament, who ultimately made the decision
another vote on action in Syria in 2015 was successful
showed the vulnerability of his position, especially in coalirion government - this affected his ability to exercise his prime ministerial powers
Johnson appointed only pro-Brexit MPs to cabinet
not diverse but allowed him to have greater control over cabinet
- Geoffery Howe resigned from Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet in 1989 aver her increasingly eurosceptic views
- Robin Cooke and Claire Short resigned from Blair’s cabinet in 2003 over the Iraq war
it’s rare for the cabinet to seriously question a prime ministerial initiative, if they do they will resign
May lost 11 ministers in 18 months (November 2017 - May 2019), mostly over Brexit
example of cabinet resignations that were disastrous as it weakened her authority and control over cabinet and lead to her eventual resignation
March 2017 - Philip Hammond’s proposal to increase national insurance for the self-employed was resisted by all opposition parties and some Tory rebels so was dropped as a policy
shows a budget which is the formal acceptance of government was not fully accepted and shows the limits to the chancellor’s power of policy and legislation
May’s diverse cabinet on Brexit failed due to her struggling to control it and come up with an accepted deal
shows PM’s weakness in legislating and settling policy and the power of cabinet over the PM
how was Thatcher removed in 1990
by a leadership contest that was encouraged by her cabinet
how were Tony Blair 2007 and Theresa May 2019 removed
by public scrutiny encouraged by cabinet
Cameron in 2015 was forced by his cabinet to suspend collective responsibility in the EU referendum in order to start their individual campaigns
example of a time the cabinet to overided a PM by summoning enough political will and coming up with an alternative policy, shows they can decide on government policy
the the July 2007 London Terrorist attacks Blair called cabinet for an emergency meeting
example of an emergency cabinet meeting, one of their roles is to deal with crises
Thatcher called her cabinet before sending troops to the Falklands and Blair called his before action in Iraq
examples of those with royal prerogative powers still consulting their cabinet before deciding fully on foreign policy decisions
Johnson would make decisions in Covid over WhatsApp chats that could be deleted
growth of more informal meeting style which also excludes much of the cabinet
removal of Thatcher in 1990, May in 2019 and Johnson in 2022 resulted from what
ministerial resignations, exercising their role of supporting and removing the PM
Tony Blair held a vote in parliament over action in Iraq 2003
made it clear he didn’t need to but got their approval to legitimise his decision
in 2020, Johnson signed the EU ‘divorce treaty’
the PM exercising their royal prerogative powers to make foreign treaties, on his own
Tony Blair’s ‘sofa government’ allowed him to convince minister’s of his way of thinking
meant less decisions in his government were made in cabinet and often decided beforehand - furthers the idea that cabinet is just a ‘rubber stamp’
Johnson resigned from May’s cabinet as foreign secretary in 2018 over her ‘soft Brexit’
shows ministers dropping collective responsibility in public, lead to May’s eventual resignation, very damaging to her
Cameron chose Osborne as his chancellor in 2010
example of a PM appointing close allies to cabinet
- Johnson appointed Priti Patel to cabinet to represent the right wing
- Blair chose Prescott to be his deputy PM to appease left wingers in his party
examples of a PM appointing ministers who can represent a particular section of their party
Cameron appointed Oliver Letwin to the cabinet office for this administrative skills
example of a PM appointing based off potential and ability to run a department
May appointred her university friend Damien Green as her first secretary of state
example of a PM appointing a close personal friend
Johnson was appointed by May as he was a ‘big beast’ on Brexit outside the party
example of a PM appointing popular party figures and those who posed a threat to them outside the cabinet
May chose Damien Hinds as Secretary of State for education
example of a PM appointing those who are good at managing a department to their cabinet
- Gavin Williamson was sacked as education secretary in September 2021 after the A-level results scandal
- Amber Rudd resigned as work and pensions secretary in 2019 over Johnson’s expelling of MPs and Brexit
examples when a vacancy in cabinet instigated a reshuffle
in July 2014 Gove was removed as education secretary in a reshuffle after continually upsetting teaching unions
example of a cabinet reshuffle due to wanting to change policy direction and place different emphasis on other policies
May bought Gove back as environment secretary in June 2017 as he was an outspoken Brexiteer
examples of a reshuffle due to wanting to promote allies and give big characters role, having the best team in place
Gavin Williamson was removed from the cabinet in September 2021 for mishaps in covid education and 2020 results day after he failed to resign
example of a reshuffle to remove underperforming ministers. also shows a minister not following IMR on policy as he refused to resign and had to be sacked
Rory Stewart was appointed to May’s cabinet in 2019 due to successes as an environment and prison’s minister
example of a reshuffle to promote ministers and bring in new ones
a meeting of senior ministers to discuss Brexit in May 2018 was nicknamed the ‘Brexit war cabinet’
an example of a specific cabinet committee
in 2014, Gove was forced by the cabinet secretary to back down in row with May over who was responsible for extremism in schools
example of the cabinet secretary being an impartial arbitrator
Simon Case was the one to investigate Partygate (did stop after it was found he may have been involved and the case was handed to Sue Gray)
example of the cabinet secretary being an impartial arbitrator
Tony Blair’s sofa government (SPADs and senior civil servants)
- Jonathon Powell, chief of staff
- Alastair Campbell, director of communications
- Sally Morgan, director of government relations (between Blair and the party, was essential in the lead up to war)
- Pat McFadden - political secretary
between 1997-2021, there has been a 171% increase of SPADs in government
growing use of SPADs since Blair
Andy Coulson, Cameron’s director of Communications, was a news editor previously and then sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2014 for phone hacking. left office in 2011 due to continued media coverage on hacking at his previous post
controversial SPADs
Alastair Campbell was seen as the founder of modern day ‘spin doctoring’ and was famous for dominating government and controlling elected ministers
controversial SPADs
Dominic Cummings broke Covid rules in visiting Barnard castle to ‘test his eyesight’, sacked November 2020 due to covid breaches
controversual SPADs
May’s top chief of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill who both ‘left’ Conservatives on economic matters and starting the ‘levelling up’ agenda, they were resented by ERG ministers and were thus sacked after the 2017 election
controversial SPADs
Sue Gray was a former civil servant
(a cabinet office inquiry found she broke civil service code) who was Starmer’s chief of staff July-October 2024. She resigned due to mass media attention, particularly due to having a salary at £3000 more than Starmer’s and the freebies scandal
controversial SPADs
Thatcher’s high profile SPAD Bernard Ingham was her press officer. use of SPADs increases from this point and expands the once tiny cabinet office department
first initial popular use of SPADs
- Thatcher 1979-87
- Blair 1997-2005
PM’s who has a united party and so lots of power
Johnson in 2019 had a lot of new MPs, what does this mean in theory?
they should be more impressionable and easier to control than more experienced MPs - thus sources their power from parliament
May had less authority in parliament after 2017 as she was seen to depend on the DUP, Irish Union Party, for confidence and supply
example of a PM who wasn’t able to source much power from parliament
in 1995 Major won a leadership election he called whilst staying PM to silence eurosceptic critic John Redwood
example of a PM reasserting their control over parliament
most tories from 2019 believed Johnson should stay as leader to help them win the next election, only when partygate turned polls consistently negative did they get rid of him
shows the ‘riding of the coattails’ theory in which MPs support a PM they believe is popular with the electorate
the Fixed Term Parliaments Acts 2011-2021
prevented elections being called earlier than their set date without the approval of parliament or a vote of no confidence triggering it - reduced the royal prerogative powers of the PM
Johnson wanted an early election to get a majority to get Braxit done almost as soon as he took over from May. however, Labour refused to give support until December
affect of the FTPA on PM’s powers
in 2019 Johnson controversially dismissed (prorogued) parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis for five weeks to get his Brexit deal through withoout scrutiny
unlawful, as ruled by the supreme court, exercising of PM’s power to prorogue parliament.
examples of PM’s power being affected by events
- Thatcher’s power increase after they fought off the Falklands invasion
- Brown hurt by 2008 financial crisis
- May post 2016 referendum, affected by its dominance
- the ‘need to get Brexit done’ Johnson was not suited to global health emergency
May tried to create a united party by including hard, Johnson and Soft, Rudd and Lidington Brexiteers
example of a PM appointing ministers that will unite the party
Johnson felt strong enough to purge the soft Brexiteers from his cabinet
this allowed him greater control over parliament
Brown and Cameron reliant on their close allies Mandelson and Osborne
encouraged unity and further support for themselves
Cameron included two former party leaders William Hague and Ian Duncan Smith
prioritising experience when choosing ministers
May removed experienced George Osborne
didn’t favour experience in appointing ministers
Sunak was appointed from Chief Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequor in 2020
example of ministers being appointed to cabinet based off ability
Cameron made Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg deputy PM and allowed hum a say in 4 other Lib Dem appointments
taking into account the coalition situation, attempting to create unity and cohesion
Cameron increased proportion of women in cabinet to nearly half
creating a diverse cabinet
cabinet influential on May’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement
due to her weakness in cabinet, it was a genuine sounding board for ideas and to decide policy which is normally rare
Foreign Secretary Howe and Chancellor Lawson resigned from Thatcher’s government over her eurosceptic views - this railroading in 1989 participated in her fall
examples of ministers objecting to being sidelined in cabinet and not allowing the PM to make as many decisions on their own without cabinet
cabinet committees were influential during coalistion due to their being genuine policy differences
successful use of cabinet committees to make decisions
Blair often bypassed cabinet committees
irregular use of cabinet committees to make policy decisions, instead done by ‘sofa government’
hard Brexiteers Gove and Johnson called the shots in May’s premiership
examples of a group of ministers becoming powerful as they unite over a shared interest
Johnson resigned as foreign secretary over May’s ‘soft Brexit’
examples of a minister following CCR
Gavin Williamson sacked as defence secretary in 2019 after leaking information from a top-level national security council meeting
example of a minister not following CCR
times CCR was suspended
three times
- during coalition on issues where no agreement had been reached e.g. on the alternative vote referendum (torys campaigned no, lib dems yes), issues such as Trident and new nuclear power stations and Clegg promised not to back Cameron if he sought parliamentary approval to bomb islamic state targets in Syria
- by Cameron in the run up to the 2016 Brexit referendum
- unofficially by May from 2017-18 over such strong disagreement in withdrawal agreement
which two MPs refused to attend selected committees when requested 2017-22
Johnson and Patel
Amber Rudd resigned in 2018 when it was realised she had mislead Home Affairs Select Committee over immigration targets
(rare) example of a minister following IMR and resigning over policy failure
Gavin Williamson refused to resign in 2020 over failed A-level results during Covid and instead blamed the head of Ofqual who did resign
example of a minister failing to follow IMR over policy failure
Patel attended undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials and resigned as secretary of state for international development
example of a minister following IMR over not following the code of conduct
Patel didn’t resign as home secretary after it was found she broke the ministerial code in bullying civil servants
example of a minister not following IMR over misconduct and of not resigning due to the support of a strong PM (Johnson)
Johnson repeatedly criticised May’s EU withdrawal agreement to the press (Daily Mail and the Sun)
example of a minister not following CCR and not resigning
Thatcher’s deputy PM Howe resigned in 1990 over her increasing euroscepticism
example of a minister following CCR
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resigned in 2022 over Johnson’s increasingly controversial government and conduct
example of ministers following IMR
Carrington resigned in 1982 over failure to spot Falklands threat
example of a minister following IMR over policy failure
on the 15th January 2019, 118 Tory MPs rebelled in a parliamentary vote over May’s Brexit deal proposals and the government lost by 230 votes
