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UK Government > PM and the Executive > Flashcards

PM and the Executive Flashcards

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1
Q

Executive

A

branch of government which includes PM, Cabinet and junior ministers

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2
Q

Cabinet

A

PM and senior ministers, most of whom lead a particular government department

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3
Q

Government department

A

part of the executive with a specific responsibility over an area such as education, health or defence

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4
Q

royal prerogative

A

powers and privileges belonging to monarch but exercised by PM and cabinet such as granting of honours or legal pardons

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5
Q

secondary legislation

A

powers given to Executive by Parliament to make changes to law within certain specific rules

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6
Q

Individual ministerial responsibility

A

principle that ministers are responsible for their personal conduct and for their department

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7
Q

collective ministerial responsibility

A

principle which ministers must support cabinet decisions or leave the Executive

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8
Q

presidential government

A

executive dominated by one individual

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9
Q

payroll vote

A

MPs who currently hold government positions

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10
Q

examples of largest majorities since 1997

A
  • 1997 labour 418 seats
  • 2019 conservative 365
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11
Q

how many MPs and peers make up the executive?

A

on average, 120

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12
Q

power of patronage

A

royal prerogative of PM to dismiss and appoint ministers to forma government

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13
Q

how does the PM manage the cabinet?

A
  • chairing meetings
  • setting up cabinet meetings
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14
Q

how does the PM control parliament?

A

leader of the largest party has control of majority of parls agenda and uses power of secondary legislation from parliamentary acts to make policy changes without parliaments approval

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15
Q

roles of the PM in the executive

A
  • directing policy
  • managing the cabinet
  • organising government
  • controlling parliament
  • leadership (media focus more on PM
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16
Q

what are SpAds employed as?

A

civil servants - not elected and therefore not accountable to the electorate

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17
Q

negative example of SpAds?

A
  • Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy
  • SpAds to May and encouraged her to call a snap election in 2017 which resulted in a hung parliament, May forced them to resign
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18
Q

positive example of SpAds?

A
  • Cummings employed as chief of staff to Johnson and led to 2019 election campaign
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19
Q

what is the legal aspect of IMR?

A
  • ministers must be accountable to Parliament such as answering questions in he house and interrogation by select committees.
  • encourages ministers to resign if they broke IMR
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20
Q

what is the political aspect of IMR?

A
  • all ministers behaviour is held up against ministerial code of conduct, if fail to meet this code they will face dismissal by PM
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21
Q

who creates ministerial code of conduct?

A

PM

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22
Q

Priti Patel - department of international development 2017

A
  • Patel summoned from an event in Uganda because she misled May (PM) over her handling of 14 unofficial meetings with ministers Israel with businessmen and lobbyists
  • shows IMR as strong as she was forced to resign
  • personal behaviour
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23
Q

Amber Rudd - Home Office 2017

A
  • Rudd misled the house about deportation targets (windrush scandal). targets were uncovered in a select committee hearings were they were questioning if she knew about the targets
  • IMR strong as her error, not the policy, in misleading parliament was followed by resignation
  • department
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24
Q

Gavin Williamson - Education Secretary 2020

A
  • Algorithm fiasco 2020 with A-Level results. several instances of repeated U-turns on free school meals. failed to provide equipment to students in deprived areas in lockdown
  • IMR weak as Williamson not forced to resign. ALLEGED that he knew sensitive information about Johnson that was damaging
  • department
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25
Q

Suella Braverman - Home Sec 2022

A
  • under Truss found to have sent an email including classified documents from her personal email to a backbench MP and member of the public. forced to resign but in resignation she accused Truss of a lack of leadership and how she made a mistake and resigned, so truss should do the same with mini budget
  • IMR strong as she resigned. however could be weak as Sunak reappointed her
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26
Q

what are the five main principles of CMR?

A
  • ministers collectively responsible for all gov policies
  • ministers must publicly support all government policies
  • if minister wants to dissent publicly from a gov policy, they are expected to resign as a minister first
  • if minister dissents without resigning, they can expect to be dismissed
  • as cabinet meetings are secret, any dissent is concealed from public and other MPs
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27
Q

exceptions to collective responsibility 2010-2015

A
  • some policy areas included in Coalition Agreement which meant ministers would be required under the principle to agree
  • issues like trident nuclear submarine missile system was excluded from from the agreement and ministers could disagree publicly with this issue
  • 2 ministers resigned over tax policies (CMR in effect)
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28
Q

exceptions to collective responsibility Brexit referendum

A
  • ministers allowed to make up own minds on issue
  • Cameron and Osborn campaigned to remain
  • justice sec at time Michael Gove openly campaigned against government to leave the EU
29
Q

exceptions to collective responsibility Mays conservative government 2017-19

A
  • not official suspension of the principle
  • weak leadership from May meant several ministers openly criticised her on Brexit.
  • couldn’t fire ministers as hung parliament (317 seats)
30
Q

what may the principle of collective responsibility rely on?

A

power of the PM

31
Q

Robin Cook

A
  • Iraq War 2003
  • foreign sec under new labour disagreed with decision to go to war in Iraq without seeking resolution from UN Security Council and resigned in a powerful speech in he commons
32
Q

Lord Frost

A
  • Covid Plan B
  • Frost Brexit Secretary, resigned from government over plans to introduce ‘plan B’ restrictions
33
Q

Dominic Raab 2023

A
  • Raab resigned (April 2023) after inquiry found him to be bullying civil servants
  • ‘undertook to resign’ if he was found to be bullying
  • ‘important to keep my word’
34
Q

Dominic Raab 2018

A
  • Brexit sec after Davis resigned.
  • Raab resigned after May announced her draft withdrawal agreement from the EU
35
Q

David Davis

A
  • Brexit sec 2018
  • resigned after being sidelined by May despite it being his job to negotiate terms of Brexit
36
Q

Priti Patel Bullyinb

A
  • IMR
  • Bullying allegations 2020.
  • Johnson didn’t demand her resignation after her allegations of bullying civil servants
  • Patel popular in party
  • IMR weak
37
Q

Matt Hancock

A
  • affair 2020 IMR
  • eventually handed his resignation after Sun revealed he was having an affair with his SpAd during Covid, breaking the rules his department made
  • H/E Johnson never requested his resignation
38
Q

Boris Johnson IMR-

A
  • partygate 2020 and 2021
  • johnson issued with fixed penalty notice after parties in Downing Street during lockdowns.
  • Didn’t resign over this and insists that he didn’t know guidance was being broken
39
Q

allies affecting PMs choice of cabinet

A
  • Allied (Brown and Blair, Cameron and Osborne Uni friends, Truss purge cabinet of Sunal supporters)
40
Q

big beasts effecting PMs choice of cabinet

A
  • Big Beasts (May had Hammond and Johnson in cabinet, Sunak has Gove)
41
Q

ability/expertise affecting PMs choice of cabinet

A

sunak’s position as chancellor during Covid highlighted his ability to handling an unprecedented economic crisis

42
Q

party faction effecting PMs choice of cabinet

A
  • sunak brought back Braverman as Home Sec despite her resigning under truss as she’s a member of the ERG faction
  • Mays cabinet was a delicate balance between retainers and leavers
43
Q

Rivals affecting PMs choice of cabinet

A
  • bind them by CMR so can’t criticise the government. Johnsons choice of Javid as home sec
44
Q

descriptive representation affecting PMs choice of cabinet

A
  • truss had most diverse cabinet, all 4 great offices of state weren’t filled by a white man
  • Sunaks however was far less diverse = 44% went to private school and 22% were women when first appointed in Oct 2022
45
Q

what system of government dominated from 1960s to 2010?

A

‘prime ministerial’

46
Q

which PMs in particular dominated the relationship between the PM and the cabinet?

A

wilson, thatcher, and Blair

47
Q

what style of politics did Blair develop and what is it?

A
  • sofa politics
  • he would meet with cabinet ministers in private with advisors to agree on policy, which would be resented as finalised decisions in cabinet meetings.
48
Q

what did ‘sofa politics’ do it terms of scrutiny?

A

limited their ability to check policy and decisions and scrutinise it as bills would be presented to the cabinet in their final form

49
Q

who did Blair rely on?

A

his SpAds rather than elected government officials

50
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - spatial leadership

A

PMs attempt to be stand alone figures establishing idealogical positions distinct from their party - thatcherism, blairism, reinforced by their large majority

51
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - nation

A

PMs often speak on the nation on major events - Johnson conducted almost daily covid conferences

52
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - campaigns

A

election campaign often focus on the individual rather than the party - new labour largely focuses on Blair (music video), 2019 placed Johnson at centre with his brexit deal and media coverage

53
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - mandate

A

the mandate for government after GE is often attributed to PM - 2019, 97, 83

54
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - SpAds

A

increased use of SpAds, PMs increasingly trust hand picked advisors over civil servants - Blair with Campbell, May with Hill and Timothy, Johnson with Raab

55
Q

Why are PMs regarded as more powerful than their cabinet? - cabinet office

A

increased power to this office that now works to coordinate Whitehall (where civil servant and ministerial offices are) on the PMs behalf

56
Q

from 2010 to 2017, what was more powerful in the relationship between the cabinet and the pm?

A

cabinet due to coalition and hung parliament

57
Q

examples of Johnson power of his cabinet

A
  • filled cabinet with strong brexit supporters - sacked 20 ministers who weren’t strong enough supporters
  • Sunak replaced David when he resigned, who was seen as more compliant to Johnsons wishes
  • major reshuffle in 2021 to reinstate power and control and direct policy ( demoted Raab from foreign sec after his housing plans angered tory MPs. Williamson dismissed after several blunders including exam fiasco.)
58
Q

examples of Johnsons lack of power over his cabinet

A
  • refused to fire Patel after bullying accusations
  • refused to fire Hancock after the affair situation
  • refused to fire Raab after appalling response to Afghanistan conflict
  • he needed support of cabinet through party gate scandal
  • sunak disntcned himself from Johnson after PM refused to apologise for saying Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Saville
59
Q

what did Suank say about the PMs plans to increase national insurance?

A
  • ‘The prime minsters national insurance policy’ rather than the government’s - distancing himself
60
Q

examples of cabinet dominance over truss

A
  • showed some dominance by purging all sunak supporters
  • pressured by cabinet to maintain a rise in pensions along side inflation by Mordaunt and others
  • Prominent cabinet members basically forced Truss to accept Hunt as her chancellor after the mini budget.
61
Q

cabinet dominance over Sunak

A
  • refused to sack Zahawi over tax improprieties in 2023 until an investigation found ‘serious breaches of the ministerial code’
  • invited braver man back to the cabinet a week after she resigned under truss for breaking the ministerial code
62
Q

factors effecting the prime ministers power

A
  • power of patronage
  • ability to manage their cabinet
  • leadership of the party
  • institutional support
63
Q

power of patronage : stregthning PMs power

A
  • big beasts/allies/factions (Javid, Braverman, Sunak)
  • binds minsters by CMR which helps party factions (Braverman)
  • Camerons major reshuffle in 2014 (5 ministers sacked, 3 promoted or demoted)
  • May filled 3 main positions related to brexit with brexiteers
  • Johnson replaced Javid as chancellor with Sunak when he refused to get rid of his SpAds
  • Truss purged all sunak supporters from Parl
64
Q

Power of patronage : weakening PMs power

A
  • major factions must be represented (Braverman ERG)
  • should attempt to seek descriptive representation = Truss, however, parl is still dominated by white men
65
Q

ability to manage their cabinet = strengthens PMs power

A
  • PM controls cabine meetings, allows them to cut off discussion
    -CMR binds those wanting to criticise the government
  • 2010 coalition involved lots of formal and informal meetings of the quad who met to discuss policy that was acceptable to both
  • Johnson allegedly made the majority of decisions about COVID with ministers including Raab, Hancock, Sunak, and Gove,
66
Q

ability to manage the cabinet : damaging the PMs strength

A
  • cabinet only supports a popular PM (May)
  • senior minister resignations can damage political support for PM - Hancock 2021, Braverman 2022, Davis and Johnson 2018
67
Q

leadership of the party : strengthening PM

A
  • leader of majority gives them more power to legislate. control parliament. whips
  • Blair didn’t suffer a single defeat from 1997-2005 due to large majority
  • fortune of the party largely linked to PM
  • Johnson passed EU withdrawal legislation despite members of same party refusing to do so for may, after the popularity o 2019 election
68
Q

leadership of the party : weakening PMs strength

A
  • PMs who are electoral liabilities are more damaging to party loyalty - Johnson and partygate, Truss and mini budget
  • PMs with small majorities limited by backbenchers - May
  • vote of no confidence
  • PMs who lack mandate will face more opposition in lords (salisbury convention)
69
Q

factors that affect the PMs power during their premiership

A
  • leadership style
  • cabinet
  • party and factions
  • size of majority (P1 link mandate)
  • PM popularity
  • media
  • events

UK Government (7 decks)

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