PM and the Cabinet

Question 1

what are the constrains on the British PM?

Answer 1

• Cabinet and ministerial colleagues
• Events
• size of majority
• Public opinion
• Media
• Honeymoon period

Question 2

How is the British PM elected?

Answer 2

They are the leader of the party who wins the general election by gaining the most seats in the HoC.

Question 3

Where does the PM get their power from?

Answer 3

• Uncodified constitution
• Prerogative powers
• come from authority and privilege of the monarch

Question 4

What are the key roles of the UK PM?

Answer 4

• Head of the cabinet
• Decide who sits in Cabinet
• Decide addenda of the cabinet
• Representative of the country
• chief spokesman for the party and the government parliament

Question 5

Can the UK government be seen as presidential in more recent years?

Answer 5

Yes, with both Blair and Thatcher we see a more centralised government with most power sitting with the PM. (Blair’s cabinet took a back seat, he only voted in 8.6% of all votes in the HoC, his unelected advisers had more power than the government. Thatcher used force of argument, reduction of cabinet meetings and surrounding herself with yes men to be more powerful)

Question 6

What is the issue with presidential government?

Answer 6

‘Primas inter pares’
the prime minister is supposed to take this role which means first amongst equals, meaning PM is just a name and all should be equal in government

Question 7

How many people attend cabinet meetings?

Answer 7

29 people

once a week for 1.5-2 hrs

Question 8

what are the four key functions of the cabinet?

Answer 8

1. Decide on policy at home and abroad (a vision for the country)
2. dealing with unforeseen major problems (covid-19)
3. coordinating the policies of different departments (health, education together on corona virus)
4. planning for long term (climate change and green energy)

Question 9

What are some issues with the cabinet?

Answer 9

• Little time to get your point across
• You rarely get heard
• There is not a great picture of the cabinet it seems kind of useless

Question 10

What are cabinet committees?

Answer 10

Small working groups of the whole cabinet which have been used as key organs of decision making. they can focus deeply on specific policy areas.

Question 11

what are two types of cabinet committee?

Answer 11

• standing committee- permanent committees responsible for areas of policy such as the EU and local government
• Ad hoc committees- vary in number according to the style of the PM, concerned which a particular policy area

Question 12

Are Cabinet committees valuable?

Answer 12

• They do important deliberative work (contrast the cabinet itself)
• Can consider issues in more detail
• Their decisions are “reported back” to the cabinet, which can revise or veto committee proposals disagreements are now less common

Question 13

What is an Inner or Kitchen Cabinet

Answer 13

They are part of presidential leadership, refers to advisers and other staff at number 10 who form and inner circle

Question 14

What are the issues with an inner cabinet?

Answer 14

• There are no hard fast rules about the composition or extent of this cabinet
• More likely to draw criticisms of Presidentialism

Question 15

what is a bilateral discussion?

Answer 15

a meeting between the PM and the individual minister. Used by both Thatcher and Blair seen as circumventing Cabinet

Question 16

why do you think the government was reluctant to tell the public about Cabinet committees?

Answer 16

because they are smaller groups of the cabinet which then take what they have discussed to the full cabinet. It undermines the function of the cabinet itself making it seem futile

Question 17

do Cabinet committees strengthen or weaken the view of Cabinet government?

Answer 17

it weakens the view of the official cabinet but Cabinet committees are strong and useful

Question 18

how can Cabinet government theory (power is collective not personal) be critiqued?

Answer 18

• ‘power of patronage’ if the PM is only member of the Cabinet who can dismiss or shuffle the cabinet it gives them a certain power over everyone else
• The PM is involved in all aspects of decision-making
• cabinet can take a PM down e.g Thatcher

Question 19

what is the concept of Cabinet collective responsibility?

Answer 19

it means that all ministers are collectively responsible to the HoC for government policy

Question 20

what are three key aspects of Cabinet collective responsibility?

Answer 20

Unamity- minister must public ally support the cabinets decision
Confidence- The cabinet must maintain confidence of the house if they do not they are expected to resign
Confidentiality- what is said in cabinet remains in cabinet

Question 21

where have we heard about the Cabinet collective responsibility convention before?

Answer 21

salisbury convention

Question 22

what are the pros of Cabinet collective responsibility?

Answer 22

it’s insures all ministers “sing from the same is hymn sheet “
avoid confusion which arises when different members of the same administration say different things

Question 23

what are the cons of Cabinet collective responsibility?

Answer 23

• ministers are able to get round the convention by using coded language or leaking their views
• some make speeches including thinly veiled criticisms of government policy
• in 1975 and 1977 Wilson and Callahan allowed their cabinets to split on the issue of Europe rather than face complete division or mass resignation