PM And Executive Flashcards
What are the three branches of government?
- the executive branch that carry out laws (made up of PM and cabinet)
- the legislative branch (Lords and Commons)
- the Judicial (Supreme Court)
What is a ‘core executive’?
The most important elements of government including the cabinet, senior civil servants and key political advisers based in the PM’s private office
What is secondary legislation?
The process by which primary legislation can be amended by government departments without requiring another act of parliament
How can the executive govern?
- it introduces parliament proposals for new legislation based on the manifesto it fought
- it introduces legislation into parliament in response to changing circumstances, known as a ‘doctors mandate’
- it introduces a budget, which outlines how the government proposes to raise revenue
- it can introduce secondary/delegated legislation means it can modify legislation without needing another act of parliament
What are statutory instruments used for?
They are used to make changes to primary legislation in the form of delegated legislation
Why are statutory instruments controversial?
They have been criticised for being undemocratic as they seek to bypass full parliamentary scrutiny and debate
What are executive agencies?
Semi-independent bodies that carry out the functions of government departments, such as the DVLA which is overseen by the department of transport
Where does the authority of the PM derive from?
The monarch asking them to form a government of their behalf
Key features of the Prime Minister?
- they tend to be from the largest party in the House of Commons, however in exceptional circumstances and individual can be appointed as PM without leading their party
- there is a convention that the PM should be a member of the House of Commons, which was demonstrated by Lord hope who gave up his peerage to become PM
What are the key powers of the prime ministers?
They determine the membership of the government, make senior appointments to the civil service and judiciary, recommend most appointment of life peers to the House of Lords, negotiates foreign treaties, directs military forces in combat and decides whether to activate UK’s trident nuclear deterrent
What is a royal prerogative?
The executives power of the monarchy, such as the command of the armed forces, patronage and the conduct of foreign policy - which powers have to be transferred to the PM who wields them on behalf of the monarch
What is the role of government departments?
- To manage their particularly area of government and develop policy
- each ministerial team within a dept. makes proposals for legislation concerning their department
- those within the department are bound by a principle of collective ministerial responsibility and each department relies on the support of the civil service
What is individual ministerial responsibility?
The principle that members of the cabinet take ultimately responsibility for what occurs within department, including both administrative and policy failures. They are also responsible to the PM for their personal conduct
Ministerial code of conduct 1997:
- ministers are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of prosperity
- harassing, bullying or other discriminating behaviour will not be tolerated
- ministers have a duty to parliament to account and be held to account for the policies and decisions of their departmen and agencies
- ministers are supposed to give accurate and truthful information to parliament and correct inadvertent errors
- ministers can only remain in office so long as they retain the confidence of the PM
Key administrative failures of government:
- the poll tax 1990-91 - which replaced the previous system of property taxes and charged every adult in England Ireland wales and Scotland a flat-rate fee, regardless of income
- the Iraq warm2003under the leadership of Tony Blair who be,in Ed Iraq possessed WMD’s
Why was ‘poll tax’ a failure?
It was highly regressive and disproportionately affected low-income individuals, which led to protests and the 1990 Poll tax riots in London. Poll tax was seen to erode Thatchers’ popularity and contributed to her resignation in 2990, and was replaced with John major who replaced poll tax with council tax
What are key examples of policy failure?
- in 1982 Lord Carrington resigned as foreign sec from Thatcher’s government after the aftermath of Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands because he thought the foreign office should have been more aware of Argentina’s intentions and should have made clearer what the response of the British gov would be
- in 2002, Tony Blair’s education secretary, Estelle Morris resigned after being caught up in a crisis over who should take responsibility for a scandal involving inappropriate A-Legel grade fixings
What part of the ministerial code of conduct did Amber Rudd breach?
1:3 (c), saying that those who ‘knowingly mislead parliament should offer their resignation to the PM’
On what occasions have ministers held on to office despite criticism?
- On ‘black Wednesday’ in 1992, Mjaor’s government was forced to abandon the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM, having raised interests by 5% to retain membership. Norman Lamont (chancellor) was most closely associated with this policy failure however refused to resign because the policy was also that of the Prime Minister’s
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, students were given GCSE/A-Level grades based on self-centre assessments, which would then be modified by an algorithm. This led to many pupils not getting their required uni grades. Hence, Gavin Williamson (education secretary) abandoned the algorithm and pupils were given grades based purely off centre assessments. Although Sally Collier (Chief regulator of Ofqual) resigned, Williamson remained in his post until he was dismissed by Johnson is 2021
Scandal:
Ministers can be held accountable for personal conduct, and if it brings the government into disrepute, they are expected to take responsibility and resign
On the 29th April 2018, why did Theresa May’s Home Secretary (Amber Rudd) resign?
After she admitted that she had misled the home affairs select committee and the House of Commons when she stated that there were no home office targets for removing illegal immigrants (of the wind rush generation)and as a result sustained attacks from the Labour Party and the media
What are key scandals that ministers have faced that has led to resignation?
- Chris Huhne, energy secretary, 2012 was forced to resign from the coalition over media claims that he had perverted the course of justice by colluding with his former wife so that she took responsibility for his speeding offence and both were sent to prison
- priti patel, international development secretary, 2017 resigned from May’s government over a series of private meetings that she had held with Israeli ministers (including Netanyahu) and her failure to report these put her in conflict with the codes requirement that ‘any significant content should be passed back to the dept. ASAP
- Stella Braverman, Home Secretary, 2022, resigned after having used her personal email to send an official document to a colleague. After her resignation she then launched an attack on the Prime minister (Liz Truss) expressing her concerns on the direction of government and Sunak appointed her back 25 days after Truss’ resignation
How can a prime minister influence a ministers’ position?
If the prime minister supports them, despite the conventions that says ministers should resign on certain basis’, the PM can salvage a ministers career if they stand by them
Why might a Prime Minister not have the power to back a minister?
If they are a weak/weakened PM
What is a key example of how a weakened PM couldn’t save a ministers’ role?
In 2018, Theresa May had already been weakened by her failure to achieve a majority government in the 2017 election (with only 317 seats), and under her leadership there were continued divisions over the EU withdrawal and the Grenfell tower disaster, so she had little choice to accept Amber Rudd’s resignation as Home Secretary
What were the continued EU divisions/disputes under Theresa May?
How did Theresa May fail to handle to Grenfell disaster?
What is a key example to show that a strong Prime Minister can save the career of a minister?
In 2020, a cabinet office report stated that Priti Patel’s treatment of Sir Philip Rutnam hadn’t met the standards of the ministerial code of conduct regarding the treatment of civil servants, making a strong case for her to resign. However at the height of his power, Johnson continued to give his full support and she didn’t resign
What is the ‘good chaps’ theory?
The principle of individual ministerial responsibility depends on the PM being prepared to hold ministers accountable as well as not breaching of code of conduct themselves
In 2022, when was the ‘good chaps’ theory tested?
When Boris Johnson was accused of misleading parliament over whether he had attended Downing Street parties during lockdown restrictions. In May, a report by sue gray accused number 10 of ‘failures in leadership and judgement’, and soon after Johnson announced a revision of the ministerial code to say that it would be ‘disproportionate for any breach to lead to automatic resignation or dismissal’. In June, 41% of Tory MP’s voted for him to step down yet he still refused and it was only when 62/179 of his ministers resigned in the wake of the Chris pincher scandal that he stepped down
What shows the smooth operation of individual ministerial responsibility is dependant of the conduct of the PM?
If the PM supports an individual, they can salvage their political career, however
What is collective ministerial responsibility?
- if the government loses a vote in the HoC, they can salvage who,e government must resign (e.g. James Callaghan 1979)
- it also requires that discussions within cabinet must be kept secret to maintain gov. integrity
- members of the government must publically support policy even if they are privately critical as this helps to maintain the unity of government. If a minister fails to do this they are expected to resign and return to the backbenches
What are key examples of high profile ministerial resignations over collective responsibility?
- Geoffrey Howe 1990 (leader of HOC and deputy PM) - resigned from Thatcher’s government 2 days after her famous ‘no no no’ speech which assaulted European federalism. Howe in his resignation speech said he could no longer serve under an increasingly eurosceptic PM and this resignation prompted the leadership challenge of Hesiltine
- Boris Johnson, foreign secretary, 2018 - after being unsupportive of May’s Brexit negotiations, Boris resigned after not being willing to support her chequers agreement as the basis for an EU withdrawal agreement and in his speech he acknowledged the idea of collective ministerial responsibility
- Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Sajid Jarvis, health secretary, 2022 -
What are some key instances where ministers broke collective ministerial responsibility yet did not resign?
- from 2010-15, Vince cable was the Lib Dem’s business secretary in the coalition, and was frequently critical of his conservative colleagues, and in 2014 he publically criticised George Osborne’s cuts in public spending in the autumn budget, yet didn’t resign
- 2 years prior to Johnson’s resignation from May’s government, his criticism’s of EU policy had been hostile, shown when May favoured a customs partnership with the EU, and Johnson told the Daily Mail how he felt negatively towards the idea. He also argued in the sun that there should be no ‘monkeying around’ however he didn’t resign because may didn’t want to have a cabinet of ‘yesmen’
What does the approval of a third runway at Heathrow tell us about cabinet?
It suggests that major decisions are still shaped collectively by ministers, because on the 7th February 2025, Ed Miliband, (Secretary of state for Energy and Net zero) confirmed he wouldn’t resign over the collective decision to support the expansion of the airport as a way of boosting economic growth
What does the operation of individual ministerial responsibility largely depend of?
The conduct of the Prime minister
Under what circumstances are ministers allowed to disagree publically with each other?
If the PM suspends the convention
What are key occasions where the convention of collective ministerial responsibility has been suspended?
- in March 2019, 13 ministers in May’s government abstained on a vote to stop a ‘no deal Brexit’ even though the government was committed to keeping ‘no deal’ as an option
- in 2016 regarding the Brexit crisis, although Cameron was remain, he knew that if he demanded that Eurosceptic members of his cabinet (Michael Gove & Grayling) support membership then he would suffer resignations, therefore he suspended collective responsibility on this issue to allow for members (such as Iain Duncan smith) to campaign against membership
What does the cabinet consist of?
20-25 senior government minsters who head depts. of state and it usually meets for 2 hours on a Thursday morning however it can be summoned in a crisis
What are the key roles of the government?
- approve decisions that have been taken elsewhere within the executive
- determine key issues of policy
- decide how the government will determine business, and how to adequately discuss and present controversial legislation
- the chief whip will determine if there is going to be a sufficient gov. majority for a bill so the cabinet may debate any concessions they may need to make to win parliamentary support
- if a dispute between two departments of state isn’t being solved then the issue may be brought to cabinet
- the PM can appoint cabinet committees can develop and implement specific policy which enhances PM powers and they determine the makeup of these committees
How is the cabinet selected?
The PM selects it however doesn’t have quite a free hand because it is expected they should include ‘big beasts’ (influential figures), to reduce their power perhaps, as well as other members who they align with
Why might a PM appoint political rivals to cabinet?
Because it binds them to collective ministerial responsibility, meaning they cannot publically criticise the government and by awarding them high positions it may even cultivate their loyalty
Where has party unity within cabinet shown to be useful?
- Through Tony Blair’s inclusion of John Prescott, who served as deputy PM from 1997-2007. Prescott represented the working class left of the labour and had a career in the merchant navy and he gained influence as a member of the national union. Therefore by appointing him, Blair assured the left if the party that new labour hadn’t entirely abandoned its socialist ideology
- in Theresa May’s government, she had to resort to ‘managing’ government, due to the issue of the Brexit crisis, in which she had to balance maintaining support from both brexiteers and remainers hence she appointed the likes of Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond (remain) and Boris Johnson and David Davis (leave)
How did truss try to maintain balance?
She advanced her own political allies in the same way Cameron did, at the expense of her rival for leadership, Rishi Sunak
Why is the cabinet significant?
it promotes constructive debate
When have the powers of cabinet been undermined?
- The establishment by Blair of the PM’s strategy unit and Delivery unit further challenged the autonomy of cabinet ministers by setting their depts. targets and monitoring their performance
- Blair’s government of 1997 was often referred to as the ‘sofa government’, because over a lot of decisions and issues, Blair would often sit on a sofa in Downing Street with Alistair Campbell to discuss matters, such as granting the Bank of England independence
- Blair’s successors have continued to use SPADS to develop policy because they are more committed to the same political ideology as the PM e.g. Dominic Cummings under Johnson’s government, who was highly partisan and would be used to spy on ministers etc to ensure they were upholding the governments targets
When have cabinet ministers challenged the PM?
- In 2018, Jeremy Hunt refused Theresa May’s attempt to move him from the then department of health and he even managed to expand his role to being health and social care secretary
- The Westland Affair revolved around a dispute over the future of the British helicopter company, Westland. Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine wanted a European-backed rescue deal, while Thatcher supported an American-led solution. Heseltine felt Thatcher was undermining his position and resigned in protest. In his resignation speech, Heseltine accused Thatcher of acting undemocratically and failing to allow proper cabinet discussions. His resignation marked a significant challenge to Thatcher’s authority and contributed to her later downfall in 1990.
What did Mo Mowlam (member of Blair’s cabinet) say?
‘Cabinet itself is dead, it doesn’t have a function to play’
When did Johnson effectively use his cabinet?
On 24th February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Johnson summoned an emergency meeting of the cabinet and an immediate meeting of COBRA (which deals with national emergencies) afterwards. Johnson used these cabinet meetings to fully brief members of the government’s response to the invasion to ensure they showed a united front e.g. Key figures, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, participated in NATO and G7 meetings, reinforcing the UK’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine
What arguments suggest that the cabinet play a central role in government?
- PM’s often consult with them during political crises e.g. following the Falkland invasion Thatcher consulted with key members of her cabinet of diplomacy and military options
- the cabinet may take on the role of the HOC, meaning debate for the whole house isn’t needed - e.g. in April 2018, when May called an invasion of the Syrian government due to their presumed use of chemical weapons, she relied on cabinet support
- James Callaghan with IMF loan and John Major with black Wednesday economic crisis
- key resignations in cabinet can challenge the PM’s leadership e.g. The resignations of Sunak and Sajid Javid from Johnson’s government triggered 3 other resignations on July 5th - he resigned on the 7th, also Truss resigned 1 day after Suella Braverman did
What arguments are there to suggest cabinet don’t play a central role in government?
- Blair and Thatcher has a ‘presidential’ style of politics (she pushed through poll tax)
- Blair discouraged cabinet discussion
- May called a snap election
- Johnson was closer with his SPADs
IMF loan 1976:
In 1976, the labour gov. was in turmoil over whether to accept a loan from the International Monetary Fund despite them asking for accompanying cuts in public spending. The chancellor (Denis Healey) said there was no alternative however Callaghan wanted to prove the government was united on the issue so allowed cabinet to fully debate
Westland affair 1986:
The dept. of trade and industry and the ministry of defence clashed over whether a British firm should be taken over by American or European bid, and it went to cabinet however Heseltine said that thatcher’s favouring of American business undermined genuine debate - so he resigned
Government/party divisions:
- John Redwood challenged major’s leadership in 1995, winning the support of 89 MP’s to Major’s 218 in a leadership ballot
- Cameron failed to persuade parliament to support bombing President Assad in 2013, following the use of chemical weapons in Syria
What is ‘spatial leadership’?
How has the media allowed for increased spotlight on the PM rather than government?
What are royal prerogative powers?
The powers formally exercised by the monarch without consent - now delegated to the PM
What royal prerogative powers does the PM have?
War - they have the power not to consult the commons over troops being deployed overseas
FTPA 2011
Set the length of time between general elections at five years - and transferred the power to call an early election from the PM to MP’s, as before the act the PM could dissolve parliament and call a snap election
When has the Supreme Court challenged the PM?
- in 2017, over the issue on whether the government could trigger art 50 without parliament approval, and the SC ruled that the government couldn’t do this without an act of parliament, as it would fundamentally change UK law
- The Gina miller case 2019, over whether Boris Johnson’s 5 week parliament suspension in 2019 was lawful, and the SC ruled it unlawful because it reduced parliamentary ability to carry out constitutional fucntions
What are the limits of a ‘presidential’ PM?
No PM possesses a personal mandate, and instead their authority depends on the support of parliament and their own MPs
What is a presidential government?
When there is a greater focus on the PM as representative of the nation, and implies a close personal relationship between the leaders and those in the public not normally associated with parliamentary democracy
What allowed Blair to act in a presidential way in 1997?
He gained a 179 majority which gave him a personal mandate to implement change, and his commitment to the centrist 3rd way his government with strong foundations
Chilcot report 2016
Showed how Blair failed to consult the cabinet about the advisability of war and that most members of his government accepted the decision to invade Iraq
How did Rishi Sunak have control as PM?
For what reasons did Sunak lack control as PM?
How did Johnson lose control as PM?
- in 2022, media allegations of illegal lockdown parties at Downing Street undermined his authority undermine his authority
- on may 25th 2022, the sue gray report on the No.10 parties was highly critical of Downing Street, stating that the public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places
