PM & Executive

Question 1

What is the role of the Prime minister?

Answer 1

• head of the executive + chairs + the cabinet meetings
• appoints members of the cabinet + junior ministers
• decides who sits on cabinet committees
• organises the structure of the government- can abolish/ merge departments

Question 2

Who does the most speaking in the cabinet and why?

Answer 2

PM as they chair the meeting and focus the disscusion

Question 2

Who sits near the Chancellor and why?

Answer 2

• Chancellor- Rishi Sunak as this is the most important cabinet position

Question 3

What is the cabinet?

Answer 3

20-25 senior ministers+ other important party figures like chief whip

Question 3

When is it harder for a PM to exercise their hiring/firing power?

Answer 3

if they are seen a s a weak PM, e.g May

Question 4

What are cabinet committees?

Answer 4

Small groups of ministers that make decisions on specific policy areas

Question 4

What is a cabinet secretary?

Answer 4

-Most senior civil servant
- serves the the PM + cabinet
- organise work of cabinet + government

Question 5

How is the cabinet secretary held to account?

Answer 5

No formal way- held to question on committees

Question 6

Who appoints the cabinet secretary?

Answer 6

PM in conjunction with civil service

Question 7

What does the power of ‘ Guardian of property and Ethics’ allow the cabinet secretary to do?

Answer 7

• Ministerial code- seeing if the government is abiding by it

Question 8

Give an example of when the cabinet secretary has used the power of ‘Guardian of property and Ethics’

Answer 8

2019 Sedwill leak NSC, Williamson resigning

Question 9

What is a Governmental department?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Explain what the happens in a Government department?

Answer 10

-Each department responsible for an area of policy
- Each headed by a cabinet minister, supported by several junior ministers responsible for specific aspects of the work departments

Question 11

What is a secretary of state?

Answer 11

Senior minister who runs a department

Question 12

What is a minister of state?

Answer 12

A junior minister who runs sub-division of the department and not a cabinet member

Question 13

What is a parliamentary under- secretary?

Answer 13

A very junior minister who runs a specialised section of the department

Question 14

Give an example of a secretary of state

Answer 14

Gillian Keegan MP Secretary of state for eductation

Question 15

Give an example of a junior minister

Answer 15

Nick Gibb MP- Minister for state schools

Question 16

What is the Government department structure?

Answer 16

1) Secretary of state
2) Junior ministers
3) Parliamentary under secretary of state

Question 17

Give an example of a parliamentary under secretary of state

Answer 17

Baroness Barran MBE- Minister for the school system and student finance

Question 18

What are the 3 main roles of the executive?

Answer 18

• Proposing legislation
• Proposing the budget
• Making policy decisions (conducting foreign policy/ responsive to crisis

Question 19

What is the legislative process?

Answer 19

First reading, Second reading, Committee stage, Report stage,Third reading, Passage HOL, Royal assent

Question 20

Give an example of when an executive made a policy decision responding to crisis

Answer 20

COBRA- Johnson held many press conferences/ meeting during COVID-19

Question 21

Give an example of when an executive made a policy decision including foreign policy

Answer 21

Rishi Sunak met world leaders and represented UK on international stage/ created foreign policy at COP27 in 2022

Question 22

What does holding the government to account include?

Answer 22

-Forcing them and their ministers to explain policies and decisions
- criticising government when parliamentarians feel errors or misjudgements have been made
-seeking to reverse unpopular policies and decisions

Question 23

How is parliament effective in calling government to account?

Answer 23

• parliamentary questions can help ensure accountability
• A united opposition can provide effective at scrutinising the government and force changes in government policy,
• HOL become more effective at scrutinising the government, due to absence of a conservative majority

Question 24

How do select committees call the government to account?

Answer 24

• Their work is increasingly publicised + major reports receive significant media coverage - their reports are taken seriously by the government
• The chairs of the committees have become senior figures in parliament, more influential than some opposition leaders
• members of these committees build up considerable expertise

Question 25

How is parliament ineffective in calling government to account ?

Answer 25

• Some forms of parliamentary questions are less useful, ministers using special advisers, avoid difficult questions
• a government with a large majority tends to limit the effectiveness of parliamentary scrutiny
• the government dominates it’s own members in the HOC- whips can head off serious criticism by their own MPs

Question 26

What are the powers of the executive?

Answer 26

Patronage
Royal prerogative
party support
personal mandate
parliamentary majority

Question 27

Who is the head of state?

Answer 27

The monarch ( King Charles lll)

Question 28

What is a Royal Prerogative?

Answer 28

Powers given to the PM from the monarch

Question 29

Give examples of Royal prerogative

Answer 29

Appoint ministers, chair cabinet meetings

Question 30

What does it mean that the ‘PM is first among equals’?

Answer 30

PM leads the government but does not command

Question 31

What does Patronage mean?

Answer 31

The power to appointment and dismissal

Question 32

Give an example of a PM rewarding those loyal to them- PM patronage

Answer 32

Rsishi Sunak appointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary

Question 33

Give an example of a PM increasing diversity within appointments - PM patronage

Answer 33

May promoted younger women to senior positions, like Amber Rudd to home secretary

Question 34

Give an example of a PM shaping the ideological direction of the cabinet- PM patronage

Answer 34

Thatcher appointed New right Tories who agreed with her policies

Question 35

Give an example of a minister refusing their job

Answer 35

May’s reshuffle in 2018 backfired, as Hunt refused to move from his post as health secretary