PM and Judiciary Flashcards
examples of prerogative powers
-making and ratifying treaties
-international diplomacy
-deployment of the armed forces oversees
-the organistation of the civil service
examples of critiscisms of politicisation
Communications under Blair’s communications director, Alastair Campbell, responsibility for government communications was transferred to a senior civil servant.
examples of patronage powers
- to appoint ministers ( this is considered the most significant
- life peers
- the honours system
Blair and life peers
Blair increased Labour’s representation in the Lords by appointing 162 Labour peers.
Brown and Life peers
Gordon Brown gave government portfolios and life peerages to five prominent public figures who were not politicians, including former Confederation of British Industry (CBI) head Sir Digby Jones.
coalition agreement in appointing peers
The 2010 coalition agreement required Cameron to appoint five Liberal Democrats to his cabinet but all prime ministers face informal constraints on their choice of ministers.
Blair appointing ministers
Brown agreed not to stand against Blair in the 1995 Labour leadership election and in return received assurances that he would become chancellor of the exchequer in a future Labour government.
May appointing ministers
15 ministers who had attended cabinet under Cameron, including George Osborne and Michael Gove, were not appointed to May’s first cabinet
Thatcher ideological preferences
Margaret Thatcher included both economic ‘dries’ (Thatcherites) and ‘wets’ (one-nation Conservatives) to her first cabinet, but gave the key positions to her allies
1962 cabinet reshuffle
This was true of Harold Macmillan’s 1962 reshuffle, dubbed the ‘night of the long knives’, in which he sacked seven cabinet ministers.
1989 cabinet reshuffle
Margaret Thatcher’s demotion of foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe in 1989 had damaging consequences because his resignation a year later triggered Thatcher’s downfall.
May authority in cabinet
- May established (and chaired) a new Economy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
- The prime minister can also reshape the structure and top personnel of central government.
Policy input example
Chancellor Nigel Lawson and foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe forced Margaret Thatcher to shift government policy on the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1989 by threatening to resign if she continued to rule out Britain’s entry into the system.
Thatcher - Policy input
Thatcher played an active role in many policy fields. Instances of policy success (e.g. the 1982 Falklands War) strengthened her position but in
the case of the poll tax, policy failure undermined her authority
Blair - Policy Input
The 2003 invasion of Iraq undermined Blair’s position when doubts about the government’s case for war raised questions about his judgement and trustworthiness. In domestic politics, Blair became frustrated that increased public spending in health and education delivered only gradual improvement
Brown - Policy Input
Brown forged a reputation for competence as chancellor but the financial crisis undermined his economic credibility when he was prime minister.
Cameron - Policy input
The 2010 coalition agreement limited Cameron’s room for manoeuvre, but he set the overall agenda (e.g. the deficit reduction strategy) and determined responses to emerging issues (e.g. military intervention in Libya in 2011).
Which PM’s had strong international relationships particularly with the USA
Thatcher and Blair
examples of new cabinet posts
the Department for Exiting the European Union was established after the 2016 EU referendum
Ministers whoe resigned after not agreeing with policy
Robin Cook (2003) and Iain Duncan Smith (2016). The Blair and Brown governments saw some ministers resigning in an attempt to force a change of leader
Last confidence vote used
1979 - James Callaghan
example of collective responsibility
Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers were permitted by the coalition agreement to campaign on opposite sides in the 2011 alternative vote referendum.
Collective responsibility in 2016 referendum
Cameron also allowed ministers to take a personal decision to campaign to leave the EU, even though the government’s position was to support EU membership. They were, however, denied access to civil service resources to support their position on the EU and were required to support the government’s position on all other issues.
four issues lib dems were permitted to abstain on
- nuclear power stations
- tax allowances for married couples
- higher education funding, and to make the case against renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent.
