PM And Executive (UNFINISHED)

Question 1

How many ministers run govt departments?

Answer 1

20-25 senior ministers

Question 2

Individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 2

1. Ministers must prepare to be accountable to parliament (answer Qs and face interrogation)
2. Serious error of judgement = should resign
3. Minister’s department makes a serious error = honour bound to resign (whether they were involved or not)
   4.if conduct of minister falls below expected standards = resign or face dismissal

Question 3

IMR examples (2)

Answer 3

2017 Michael Fallon resigned as defence minister after what was nicknames “pestminster scandal”
- newspapers discovered sexual harassment

2021 Matt Hancock resigned as Health Secretary after security cameras caught him cheating on his wife during SOCIAL DISTANCING

Question 4

Example where IMR has FAILED? ❌

Answer 4

It is up the the PM to make a minister resign (not legally binding) and there is no formal process
- many ministers put the blame on more junior or shadow ministers

2020 Priti Patel (Home Secretary) accused of bullying and caused several staff members to resign
- she was majorly supported by BoJo and never had to resign

Question 5

Collective Ministerial Responsibility
(Unwritten convention)

Answer 5

All ministers are collectively responsible for govt policies
- must publicly support (and not leak!) any policies
- cabinet meetings are private (dissent MUST be concealed)
Ministers should resign if they:
- disagree with govt policy or the PM
- publicly criticise govt
- leak govt details

Question 6

Examples of CMR

Answer 6

EU Brexit Referendum 2016
- CMR suspended so ministers could publicly declare their opinion

May 2017 and Truss 2022 both struggled to gain CMR - both had weak and conflicted govts

Dominic Raab 2018 resigned as Brexit secretary after disagreeing with withdrawal agreement

Question 7

Example of where the civil service (SpAds) overstepped their powers?

Answer 7

Special Advisors Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill were joint civil servants for May 2016
- took charge of re-writing cons manifesto and angered many cons members
- forced to resign after poor election result 2017

Question 8

Sofa politics

Answer 8

Well known under Tony Blair (& Bojo)
Make informal agreements with colleagues outside cabinet meetings, one on one chats with ministers having a heavy influence on them

Question 9

2 examples of PM power

Answer 9

Margaret Tatcher removed the wets from her cabinet
Blair 1999 fox hunting ban even though it was unpopular in his cabinet and HoL (overruled them)

Question 10

PM’s prerogative powers

Answer 10

Acts on behalf of the monarch
- appoint govt (decide on cabinet)
- commander in chief of armed forces
- chairs the cabinet and decides agenda

Question 11

examples of PM weaknesses

Answer 11

Maggie won 3 elections then ousted in 1990 when cabinet were tired of her dominant manner

Blair won 3 elections then forced to resign in 2007 (leadership style and Iraq War)

Theresa May 2017 left from cabinet pressure

BoJo 2022 - Sajid David, Rishi Sunak and 53 other ministers resigned

Question 12

Margaret Tatcher case study 1979-90

Answer 12

Majority of 144 in 1979!
- always had a good majority (rightful mandate)
“Iron lady”
Control
- removed wets from her cabinet (weak/more centrist)
- military action/success in Falkland islands
- defied miners strike (overruled unions)
- privatised industries
No Control
- 1979-83 tried to keep control of a divided cabinet
- public opinion stopped her from boycotting 1980 Olympics
- had to ⬆️ taxes
- couldn’t privatise Royal Mail/Rail due to public and party opposition
FAILURE
- wanted to introduce poll tax (taxing everyone the same regardless of income) and introduce it in Scotland as a trial run
- hugely unpopular but she didn’t back down from opposition
- she was challenged then withdrew from leadership election 1990
- very stubborn and made enemies
Replaced by Major

Question 13

Tony Blair Case Study 1997-2007

Answer 13

Lead a united party to win a landslide victory after being in opposition for 18 years
- 1997 election 179 majority!
Control
- sofa politics
- large majority = large mandate
- unified party for 1st 2 terms (and no defeats in 8 years!)
- powerful press Secretary (Alistair Campbell) controlled the flow of info
No Control
- public and media turned against him after Iraq War failure
- Gordon Brown had a lot of power (most powerful chancellor ever!)
—> told Blair his budget plan only 24hrs before the announcement!
- after 2005 there was a clear divide/adversary politics
—> blairites/brownites/old or new labour
FAILURE
- media ran a campaign against him in 2005
- Labour MPs thought he overstepped his powers
- failure to bring peace in Iraq War
- Gordon Brown was strong opposition