Prime Minister and executive

Question 1

Who controls the appointment of ministers?

Answer 1

The Prime Minister

Question 2

What is collective ministerial responsibility?

Answer 2

All cabinet ministers stick to an agreed policy and do not question it in public

Question 3

Why is collective responsibility necessary?

Answer 3

Ensures minister unity and keeps government decisions confidential

Question 4

What is the expectation of a minister who does not agree to collective responsibility?

Answer 4

They are to resign

Question 5

Give an example of a minister who resigned due to not accepting collective responsibility

Answer 5

Baroness Warsi reigned from Cameron’s government in 2014 over policy in Israel

Question 6

Which recent government has been strained by cabinet divisions?

Answer 6

Theresa May in 2018 whose cabinet was split between Remainers and leavers

Question 7

What is individual ministerial responsibility?

Answer 7

When ministers take responsibility for their own actions

Question 8

Give an example of individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 8

David Cameron resigned as PM in 2016 after losing the EU referendum

Question 9

Give an example of when a minister has resigned over breaking the law

Answer 9

Amber Rudd resigned as home secretary in 2018 after she deliberately mislead parliament over immigration targets

Question 10

What are royal prerogative powers?

Answer 10

exercised on behalf of the monarchy by the PM and executive

Question 11

Name the five royal prerogative powers

Answer 11

Patronage
Commander in Chief
Call an election
Head of the civil service
Make treaties with other countries

Question 12

Name an implied power of the prime minister?

Answer 12

appointing ministers

Question 13

How can the PM use the power of appointing ministers to their advantage?

Answer 13

They can appoint close allies such as Gordon Brown appointing Ed Balls to aid his own rise in office

Question 14

Name three factors effecting the PM’s power?

Answer 14

Events
Opposition
Cabinet and party

Question 15

Give an example of events limiting a PM’s power?

Answer 15

Tony Blair faced massive opposition to the Iraq war which saw more than 2 million protestors marching in London

Question 16

How can cabinet limit a PM’s power?

Answer 16

divisions within the cabinet can prevent decisions being made such as Theresa May failing to deliver Brexit due to divisions in her cabinet

Question 17

How can a weak opposition party effect a PM’s power?

Answer 17

Weak opposition allows for more domination such as Blair VS Major, Blair won with 418 seats

Question 18

What did the 2010 coalition agreement do to Cameron’s power of patronage?

Answer 18

Limited them as he could not appoint members without approval from Nick Clegg

Question 19

How did the coalition government iron out matters before cabinet meetings?

Answer 19

They used the “quad” which were the four most dominant Lib-Dem and Conservative leaders

Question 20

Name a major matter that the Quad decided in 2013

Answer 20

the 2013 budget

Question 21

What did David Cameron do when he wanted to initiate airstrikes in Syria?

Answer 21

Held a vote in the commons to which he lost

Question 22

What did 2015 Shadow foreign secretary Hillary Ben say regarding ISIS airstrikes?

Answer 22

“we must now confront this evil” despite the Labour party being against these strikes

Question 23

What are the two types of cabinet a PM can be faced with?

Answer 23

Watchdog- criticises the PM
Lapdog- Subservient to the PM

Question 24

Name a watchdog cabinet

Answer 24

Theresa May who had a split between Brexiters and Remainers

Question 25

How many times was Theresa May defeated in the commons between 2017 and 2019

Answer 25

33

Question 26

Name a lapdog cabinet

Answer 26

Tony Blair’s

Question 27

How did Blair control his cabinet

Answer 27

The use of Sofa politics in which debates on issues excluded anyone who would be against Blair’s ideas

Question 28

Give an example of when Blair used Sofa politics in discussions about the Iraq war

Answer 28

Clare Short who was international development secretary was excluded from the talk about the Iraq war despite her department having a clear interest in the topic

Question 29

What is a backbench rebellion?

Answer 29

When backbench MP’s vote against the governments legislation

Question 30

Which backbench rebellion did Boris Johnson face regarding the covid passports and how did this bill end up being passed anyway?

Answer 30

96 Conservative MP’s opposed Johnson’s bill to use covid passports however the bill survived due to Labour support