Ministerial Responsibility Flashcards
define ministerial responsibility
ministerial responsibility is a convention, not a fixed law that can be enforced
there are no rules governing the circumstances in which ministers must take responsibility by resigning
political circumstances impact how the convention is used in practice
arguments suggesting that the conventions of ministerial responsibility are no longer relevant
individual ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant (the erosion of IMR)
collective ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant (resignations for this reason are rare, the convention has been set aside on multiple occasions)
depends on the circumstances of the time, unpredictable and cannot be enforced
arguments suggesting that the conventions of ministerial responsibility are still relevant
individual ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant (recent resignations)
collective ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant (recent resignations, a divided Cabinet undermines the executive)
individual ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant
individual ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant
since the late 1980s, many government functions have been delegated to executive agencies under a director-general rather than a minister, this has led to doubt about who is accountable and has eroded individual ministerial responsibility
the minister is responsible for overall policy while the head of the agency exercises operational responsibility, but it is often hard to determine who should be accountable
for example, in 1995, the Home Secretary controversially fired the director-general of the Prisons Service following criticism of the escape of prisoners from Parkhurst jail
blurring lines of accountability mean that civil servants have been held responsible for departmental errors rather than ministers, when traditionally, they were anonymous, taking neither credit nor blame for the actions of the government but this has been eroded
in 2012, the Transport Secretary admitted that mistakes had been made in the awarding of a franchise to companies to run trains on the West Coast Main Line
three civil servants were suspended as a result, one of whom launched a successful legal action to get them reinstated
constitutional expert Professor Vernon Bogdanor made the case for the traditional relationship between ministers and civil servants, arguing that ministers were responsible for ensuring that officials had the necessary skills to carry out the work of the department and that ministers should be in a position to assure parliament that all is in order
therefore, ministers should be held responsible for mistakes made within their departments rather than civil servants
individual ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant
individual ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant
individual ministerial responsibility is the principle by which ministers are responsible for their personal conduct and for their departments, including the running of their departments and its policies, it is the convention that a minister should resign if their department makes a serious political or personal error
they are expected to accept responsibility for any failure that happens in their department
Alistair Campbell, Blair’s press secretary, apparently had a ‘golden rule’ that a minister would have to leave if they were at the centre of a media storm for longer than a given length of time
personal misconduct is a more common cause of resignations than failures of policy or administration
sometimes, the impression that a minister’s behaviour has fallen short of expected standards has been enough for their departure from office, demonstrating that individual ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant
for example, Peter Mandelson was obliged to resign twice from Blair’s first government due to a perception of wrongdoing, in one instance, he was accused of using his influence to fast track a passport application by an Indian businessman but was later exonerated by an independent inquiry, in another case, it was revealed he was buying a house with the help of a loan supplied by a Cabinet colleague, whose business affairs were being investigated by Mandelson’s department
in both cases, he had to resign simply to clear the air, regardless of the facts or whether he actually did anything wrong
Maria Miller resigned as Culture Secretary in 2014 because she claimed Parliamentary expenses related to her family home
Andrew Mitchell resigned as Chief Whip in 2012 because he was accused of insulting policeman on duty in Downing Street
collective ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant
collective ministerial responsibility is no longer relevant
individual resignations are generally rare as they can end political careers, it is more common for ministers to leak dissatisfaction to the media or disagree in private rather than take a public stand against cabinet
there have also been numerous times where the convention has been set aside
the coalition government (2010-15) involved an exception to collective responsibility - collective responsibility was set aside and an ‘agree to differ’ situation was established on a number of policy areas, largely because compromise was needed to secure a coalition
there were four main issues on which it was agreed that LibDem ministers would not be bound by collective responsibility; construction of new nuclear power stations, tax allowances for married couples, higher education funding, Trident nuclear weapon system (LibDem ministers were allowed to propose an alternative to the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent)
they were allowed to abstain in votes on these areas and disagree with the government’s stance
there were other instances where members of the two parties took opposing standpoints — an example was the 2011 referendum on the Westminster electoral system, in which David Cameron defended first past the post while Nick Clegg campaigned for the alternative vote
then, during the campaigning for the Brexit referendum, David Cameron allowed ministers to campaign on competing sides rather than take a collective position
Harold Wilson also suspended collective responsibility in 1975 for the same reason, this was the most well-known suspension of the convention
collective ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant: recent resignations
collective ministerial responsibility is a convention that binds cabinet ministers together by obliging them to support government policy and decisions in public or resign
cabinet must come to a collective position to give the appearance of unity at the top of the government — they are responsible as a group to parliament and the people
essentially, ministers must support cabinet decisions or leave the executive
ministers are free to argue their case in private but once a decision in cabinet is reached, it is binding on them all and they must support it publicly
Iain Duncan Smith resigned in 2016 as Work and Pensions Secretary under Cameron’s government, stating that he could not support or accept cuts to disability benefits
he objected to the fact that Chancellor George Osborne had made other changes in his budget to benefit high earners — in his opinion, Osbourne was too inclined to make cuts for narrow political reasons rather than in the national economic interest
Duncan Smith also disliked the Treasury’s demand that the Department of Work and Pensions should take public responsibility for the cuts that he did not himself support
Baroness Warsi resigned as Minister of State at Foreign Office and Minister for Faith and Communities in 2014 because she disagreed with government policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict
2003 — Robin Cook, leader of the House of Commons, resigned due to his opposition to the Blair government’s decision to go to war with Iraq, he stated that he could not “accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britain to military action in Iraq without international agreement or domestic support”
2018 — Dominic Raab became the first secretary of state to resign after the draft deal was reached with Brussels, saying he could not in “good conscience” support it (resigned as Brexit secretary)
2018 — Boris Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary following Theresa May’s Chequers proposal
2018 — David Davis also resigned as Brexit secretary
collective ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant: the absence of collective responsibility undermines the government
the executive will be heavily undermined by a divided Cabinet or a Cabinet that does not support government decisions
reinforced by the fall of Thatcher who demonstrated the importance of keeping the support of senior ministers, this case confirmed that a presidential system in which the prime minister dominates and therefore alienates some of their most important senior colleagues is simply not sustainable and that the support of Cabinet is essential
this is especially true when the government has a small majority or no independent majority at all, which is exactly why Theresa May has been focused on securing agreement within her cabinet
May desires consensus and has to work with her Cabinet and must keep them on her side as her position in the House of Commons is weak and the only reason she has a majority is due to the confidence and supply agreement with the DUP
but as Thatcher illustrated, even if the government does have a strong majority, resignations from senior ministers can still be extremely damaging
Thatcher tried to build a Cabinet in our own image, however by the end of the decade, her dominance over Cabinet and alienation of senior colleagues were starting to undermine her position
the resignation of deputy prime minister Sir Geoffrey Howe triggered a leadership challenge in 1990 and when Thatcher needed the support of her Cabinet she found that goodwill had evaporated at the top, leading directly to her resignation
Theresa May has been similarly undermined due to a Cabinet that does not support her. Resignations from the likes of David Davis, Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, as well as rebellions and abstentions from key Cabinet ministers such as Amber Rudd during the vote on a no deal Brexit despite May imposing a three line whip, have severely undermined her standing in the Commons and wider reputation, making her appear weak and ultimately lacking control
due to the continued need for the support of Cabinet, collective ministerial responsibility is still important and relevant
having high-profile ministers such as Michael Gove challenge the government over policy was uncomfortable for Cameron and he was keen to reassert collective responsibility afterwards
the setting aside of collective responsibility meant that it became hard to manage the party and cabinet
depends on the circumstances of the time, unpredictable and cannot be enforced
neither are fixed laws that can be enforced
hard to decide what mistakes warrant a resignation – a minister is not expected to resign over a minor mistake, the business of government is so large and complex which means that ministers cannot possibly know everything that goes on within their department, but what constitutes a minor mistake? when does a mistake become serious enough that resignation is required?
the fate of an individual minister depends on how serious the issue is perceived to be, the level of criticism in parliament and the media when a mistake is made as well as the attitude of the Prime Minister of the day
it works out differently in different situations, it is ultimately unpredictable
Charles Clarke was Home Secretary in Blair’s government and was challenged by opposition MPs in 2006 over the inability of the Home Office to account for the movements of over 1000 foreign prisoners after they had served their sentences in the UK
they had been freed without being considered for deportation and Clarke had admitted that his department had taken their “eye off the ball” but he also told the BBC that “I certainly don’t think I have a duty to the public to go — I have a duty to sort this out”
it was reported that he privately offered to resign but the Prime Minister initially backed him to continue in office, although 10 days later Blair reshuffled cabinet and sacked Clarke following poor results for Labour in local elections
this demonstrates that ministerial responsibility depends on the circumstances at the time
