PM and the executive

Question 1

what is the role of the PM?

Answer 1

• head of the UK gov
• provides political and national leadership
• appointing the government
• chairing cabinet
• managing the executive
• prerogative powers
• managing relations with parliament
• representing the UK in international affairs

Question 2

who becomes PM?

Answer 2

• must be an MP
• must be the leader of a political party (have to step down otherwise)

Question 3

what is the PM office?

Answer 3

• offers policy advice
• coordinates policy making and the implementation across gov
• PM’s appoint their own senior advisors
• the chief of staff is the most influential
• responsible for the presentation of government policy

Question 4

How powerful is the PM?

Answer 4

Patronage:
- can appoint life peers to the HOL
- accepts list of honours committee
- no role in judicial appointments

Appointing Cabinet:
- can create a cabinet
- in reality, has to include senior figures and MPs from al wings of the party
- can reshuffle cabinet but if done wrong can question the judgement of the PM and show divisions and policy failings

Authority in cabinet:
- controls discussions
- can establish cabinet committees
- poor management can weaken authority
- senior MPs can provide an opposition to authority

Policy making:
- sets objectives and coordinates policy
- PM needs backing of senior ministers on major issues

Party leadership:
- leader of largest party (strong majorities help this)
- cannot always rely on backbench support

Public standing:
- high public profile

Question 5

what was Margaret Thatcher’s majority in the 1983 election?

Answer 5

144

Question 6

what was the phrase coined by the sun newspaper during the Falklands War?

Answer 6

Gotcha

Question 7

who was Thatcher close too?

Answer 7

Ronald Reagan

Question 8

How much was the EU Rebate?

Answer 8

£700 million

Question 9

how much was British Gas sold for?

Answer 9

£5.4 billion

Question 10

who threatened Thatcher’s authority in cabinet

Answer 10

Michael Heseltine

Question 11

when Thatcher was PM what did inflation rise to?

Answer 11

22%

Question 12

how many mines were closed by Thatcher?

Answer 12

23

Question 13

what were Blair’s majorities in the three elections?

Answer 13

• 1997 - 179
• 2001 - 167
• 2005 - 66

Question 14

How many defeats did Blair have in the HOC in his first 8 years?

Answer 14

0

Question 15

who did Blair have close ties with?

Answer 15

George w. Bush

Question 16

who did Blair give an exemption to tobacco advertising to?

Answer 16

Bernie Ecolston (F1 Director)

Question 17

Who was part of David Cameron’s ‘Quad’

Answer 17

• George Osborne
• Danny Alexander
• Nick Clegg

Question 18

who were the prominent resignations under May?

Answer 18

David Davis - Brexit Minister

Steve Baker - Brexit minister (following Davis)

Boris Johnson - Foreign Secretary

Question 19

How big was Boris Johnson’s Majority and How many days did it take for him to deliver Brexit?

Answer 19

• 80 seats
• 99 days

Question 20

Does cabinet government still exist in the UK?

Answer 20

Cabinet and ministers still matter:
- since Blair, no PM has been remotely presidential
- PMs have been pressured to leave office by their cabinet
- when circumstances are less favourable, relationships with cabinet colleagues can be fraught and the ability to dictate policy is limited
Examples:
- Gordon Brown often had to discuss and agree matters with cabinet against his instincts and wishes
- Cameron had to consult Cabinet regularly while in coalition
- Theresa May losing her majority

PM dominates cabinet
- PMs becoming more ‘presidential’
- Decision-making power has appeared to have shifted to a group of close advisors around the government that are unelected
-the weekly cabinet meeting ceased to be a formal decision making forum years ago and it is too big
- most of the decisions are made in cabinet committees that the PM can create or abolish
Examples:
- Boris Johnson attempting to hold press briefings
- Tony Blair by-passed cabinet with his informal ad hoc bilateral meetings

Question 21

What is collective responsibility?

Answer 21

• supposed to ensure that the cabinet is united behind a common aim
• there are three parts to the doctrine:
• Secrecy - gov ministers shouldn’t release details of cabinet discussion
• Binding decisions
• confidence vote - if there is a vote of no confidence and the gov is defeated, all ministers must resign

Question 22

Does collective responsibility work?

Answer 22

• weakened in recent years

Temporary suspensions:
- over EU referendum campaign and vote
- AV referendum

Coalition:
- Lib dems allowed to abstain from voting on numerous policies such as, further education reform and Britain’s energy policy
- also when the GE was approaching

Free votes:
- Fox hunting in 1997 and same sex marriage in 2013

Leaks:
- Gavin Williamson after a National Security council meeting in 2019

Dissent:
- Boris Johnson with Theresa May

PM dominance:
- Tony Blair ignoring cabinet over Iraq so Clair short resigned

Question 23

What is individual responsibility?

Answer 23

places clear restrictions on what they can and can’t do according to the ministerial code and cabinet manual

Question 24

examples of ministerial responsibility

Answer 24

Priti Patel - international trade secretary November 2017:
- arranged meetings with Israeli politicians without approval of the foreign and commonwealth office and broke the ministerial code and did it again after