PM and Cabinet (race to 100)

Question 1

List the powers that the PM has and where they come from

Answer 1

• Legal head of government = must have a majority and be able to pass legislation through a majority
• Leadership of government = passing legislation, chairing cabinet committees
• PM’s Office = provides resources to help the PM pursue their agenda
• Sets political agenda = as the head of the party and the dominant media presence they get to set the key issues

Question 2

Explain how the power of patronage impacts on the PMs power, with examples

Answer 2

Patronage = the ability to hire and fire/ make appointments

This strengthens the PMs power in 2 ways: 1) they can promote loyal colleagues and supporters which makes the cabinet more likely to support them, 2) and the PM controls the careers of ministers which ensures their loyalty

However it restricts their power in 4 ways: 1) ministers must come from the Commons or Lords so there is a limited number of people to choose
2) there must be a balance of interests and ideas to avoid alienating sections
3) particular groups must be represented e.g. females
4) it may be better to have opponents in cabinet so they are bound by collective responsibility

Question 3

Give 3 factors that inhibit the power of the PM with examples

Answer 3

1) The cabinet - it can overrule the prime minister’s policy decisions as the prime minister is a ‘first among equals’ within their cabinet, however an example of this not happening is Blair’s lack of consulting the cabinet over Iraq

2) The electorate - loss of popular support from voters will end a PM’s time in power, e.g. in 2010 Gordon Brown (Labour) lost to David Cameron (Conservative)

3) Parliament - able to vote against the government’s policy and scrutinise it e.g. Prime Minister’s questions is held every week

Question 4

Outline the different parts of the executive

Answer 4

1) Prime Minister - the head of the executive

2) The Cabinet - senior ministers of the government selected by the prime minister, they lead government departments and consult the PM on policy

3) Junior Ministers - appointed by the PM with specific roles under cabinet ministers

4) Government departments - responsible for an area of policy

Question 5

Give 3 different ways in which cabinet has been used by 3 different PMs

Answer 5

• Blair lacked much use of cabinet government and instead held bilateral meetings with ministers (sofa government)
• Cameron used the ‘Quad’ (meetings between Cameron, Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander)
• May reorganised the cabinet by strengthening the PM office and chairing key cabinet committees

Question 6

Make the argument that the PM is becoming more presidential

Answer 6

• Personalised leadership: PM has become the dominant personality, for example Boris Johnson made himself the face of Brexit and its successes are closely associated with him
• Public outreach: the media spotlight is more on the PM than any other minister, for example Blair justified the Iraq war to the public through TV discussions
• Spatial leadership: there has been a separation from the PM and the rest of the government, for example Cameron held meetings with the ‘Quad’ (Cameron, Clegg, Osbourne and Alexander)

Question 7

What is the difference between a preeminent and predominant PM with examples

Answer 7

Preeminent = the powers which all PM have: legal head of government, leadership of government, PM’s office, sets political agenda. For example Gordon Brown

Predominant = the PM is the main element and strongest aspect of government with limited constraints: leadership ability and reputation, association with political success, electoral popularity, high standing within the party. For example, Boris Johnson

Question 8

What is the relationship between the PM and cabinet committees?

Answer 8

The PM chairs some of the committees (11 in 2021). Power of committees depends on the PM, for example Blair created many committees but they did not work well with his ‘sofa government’ system

Question 9

What is the difference between collective and individual ministerial responsibility?

Answer 9

Collective = the convention which government ministers agree that government decisions are taken collectively and so are supported publicly by all ministers

Individual = the convention which government ministers are expected to take responsibility for their own actions and their department’s actions

Question 10

Give 3 examples of cabinet resignations/ removals and why it happened?

Answer 10

1) September 2012 Andrew Mitchell - Chief Whip - attempted to cycle out of Downing Street through the main vehicle gates, a police officer stopped him and Mitchell verbally assaulted him which lead to his resignation

2) Amber Rudd was Home Secretary in 2018 when reports came out that children of the Windrush Generation were threatened with being deported and there were targets for how many they would deport. Rudd denied there being targets when emails came out proving that she knew there were targets. She therefore resigned

3) Estelle Morris was education secretary in 2002 she made a commitment to oversee a rise in literacy but did not achieve this, as a result he resigned

Question 11

Make 2 arguments for the diminishing of collective and individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 11

• Priti Patel remained in her post of Home Secretary despite bullying and swearing at senior civil servants in 2020
• During the EU referendums ministers were allowed to campaign and vote however they wanted rather than following party line