PM: The power of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Flashcards
does cabinet play an important role in gov yes x 2
- during political crisis a PM will need to discuss all the options open to them with the cabinet and can get a mix of articulated opinions
eg MAY calling an urgent meeting in 2018 over the milairty response to the syrian gov presumed use of chemical weapons - particularly important that she knew that she could rely on the support of cabinet since she wasnt intending on going to the commons because she wasn’t going to win - when a controversial issue needs to be resolved, cabinet meetings are vital to ensure the gov stays united eg MAY doing a whole cabinet meeting to ensure that their approach to brexit is united
does cabinet play an important role in gov NO x 2
- when a pm has clear political visions, they can appear to think they are above the cabinet so dont consolodate ministers with a lot eg Thatcher pushing issues such as the pol tax through cabinet with minimal discussion
- the cabinet can slow legislation down eg Blair liked to make decisions quickly and was impatient, so he discouraged cabinet discussion and liked to make decisions prior. known as ‘sofa government’ (laid back approach)
what is a cabinet government
where the main decision making takes place in the cabinet - modern times this is not normally the case
the opposite is called the prime ministerial government
where does the PM get its authority from (its right to govern)
- tradition
- party
- parliament
- the people
tradition
the monarch delegates their power to the pm (prerogative power). the new PM inherits the traditional authority of the monarch which is the considered legitimate authority because it has been in place for so long
party
pm is the leader of the largest party so the pms authority comes from the people - if the party has a new leader in between elections, the new leader will automatically become the new pm. This can happen when the existing leader loses the confidence of its party
eg sunak taking over from truss following the crash of the economy
where can a Pm achieve power
prerogative powers - not constrained so can be exercised by the pm personally
party - the pm is the leader of the biggest party, and if they have a large majority they can achieve much more eg passing legislation so appear to have more power
patronage - ensures that the pm can control who they appoint to which position and people then become loyal to the pm in order to get a good position
collective cabinet responsibility - the gov appears united and strong if a minister doesn’t agree with what the pm is doing they should resign
example of when a minister resigned over disagreeing with cabinet
Ian Duncan smith - tory mp resigned after there were cuts to disability benefits whilst part of Camerons cabinet.
he didn’t approve of george osborn’s budget cuts “Osborne’s cuts were for self-imposed political reasons rather than in the national economic interest”
what are the cabinets powers
- legitimise the govs policy
- cabinet can effectively drive out a pm by refusing to support them in public: forcing the pm to resign through public criticism eg Blair 2007 or Johnson 2022 or provoking a leadership contest which the pm may lose eg thatcher 1990
- can overrule the pm is if can get together enough political will and support for an alternative policy eg David cameron being forced to uphold collective respobsibility in the EU referendum campaign to allow ministers to express their own views
whats the power dynamic between cabinet and pm
the cabinet doesn’t really have any powers of its own. gov power is effectively shared between the pm and cabinet.
if the pm is strong the cabinet is weak and visa versa
eg BLAIR AND THATCHER were strong pms and didnt seek approval from cabinet very often
eg THERESA MAY needed cabinet support because going to parliament would’ve been unsuccessful with a small majority
