PM and Cabinet Flashcards
Name three types of PM power with examples
Personal leadership:
Focused on personality of leader
EG: Thatcher ideological, Blair moderniser
Public Outreach:
PM must connect to public mood
EG: T May failed to do so in 2017 Grenfell
Representation internationally:
attending int. gatherings
EG: 2021 Glasgow COP26 for climate change
Name an institutional resource of the PM
In control of Cabinet Office - BJ was head of 7/14 cabinet committees
Name some constitutive resources of the PM
Patronage powers - Blair made 173 Labour peers
Deployment of armed forces - Blair in Iraq war
Name some political resources of the PM
Use of spatial leadership - Blairs use of SOFA government
Personal mandate after election
Name three ways cabinet can limit the PM power with examples
Forcing policy changes – 2018 - May’s Cabinet were against Brexit plan, led to her watering down to the Chequers plan
Cabinet resignations – Thatcher’s resignation in 1990 followed Geoffrey Howe and Michael Heseltine which brought cabinet division
Collective decision-making on major issues – Blair held full cabinet meeting to agree Iraq war - showed even strong PM need cabinet backing for big decisions
Name three examples that support the PM has become presidential
Use of SPADS - Boris relied on Dominic Cummings
Cabinet government no longer existing - SOFA government under Blair
PMs with strong majority have elective dictatorship
Name three examples that go against the PM has become presidential
PMs with weak majorities must rely on the Cabinet -May - with the DUP and coalition heavily consulted with Cabinet, especially with Brexit
PMs with large majority can fall with controversial changes - Thatcher with Poll Tax, Blair with Iraq
Civil Service have routines to make sure SPADS cannot override
Give three points that cabinet gov does exist
Government departments have own civil servants who give ministers policy expertise - During COVID, department of health gave Matt Hancock advice to guide decisions on lockdown etc.
Senior ministers can be hard to remove - Priti Patel was hard to remove as she had strong backing from party members
Cabinet remains key for high level policy decisions - Blair consultation about Iraq
Give three points that cabinet gov does not exist
Many decisions are made in bilateral meetings - Key reforms under New Labour were made with Brown and Blair
PM can appear strong by making a “cabinet of compliance” - BJ reshuffled cabinet in 2020 to remove critics and promote loyalists like Priti Pratel
Cabinet Office and SPADSplay big role - undermines normal cabinet - Dominic Cummings had major policy influence, centralising power in NO10 with BJ
Give three reasons why policy is made with examples
Following a manifesto - BJ manifesto and “Get Brexit Done”
Response to crisis - 2020 COVID act gave PM emergency powers
Changing social attitudes - divorce reform act in 1960s, discrimination of homosexuality
What’s the significance of the PM
PMs priorities take precedence - Primus inter pares
What’s the significance of the cabinet
Bound by collective responsiblity
What’s the significance of civil servants
Give unbiased advice
What’s the significance of the SpAds
Gained increasing prominence in recent years
What is individual responsibility
Each minister is personally responsible for the actions of their own department
What is collective responsibility
All ministers are bound by government policy and must promote and efend it in public
Give two examples where PM went against cabinet to dictate policy
Thatcher creation of Poll Tax - policy personally associated with Thatcher - led to riots against, drew opposition from party MPs
Blair decision for Iraq war - large scale anti war protests - decision made due to Bush, Blair relation - led to resignation of Robin Cook, loss of seats in 2005 election
Give two examples of resignation under individual responsibility
Amber Rudd – Resigned as Home Secretary - misled Parliament over targets for deporting illegal immigrants during the Windrush scandal even though she claimed she hadn’t been aware of the targets.
Lord Carrington – Resigned as Foreign Secretary after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands, taking responsibility for failing to anticipate or prevent the conflict, despite not being directly at fault
Give two examples of resignation under collective responsibility
Robin Cook resigned as Foreign Secretary as he did not accept collective responsibility for Iraq
Jo Johnson – Resigned as Transport Minister over disagreement with May’s Brexit deal - said he could not support the government and believed the public deserved a second referendum
Give three examples of cabinet committees
National security council
EU trade committee
COVID strategy committee
