Prime Minister and Executive

Question 1

What is the executive?

Answer 1

The decision making branch of government, centred on the prime minister and Cabinet and its committees

Question 2

What is the cabinet?

Answer 2

The group of senior ministers, chaired by the PM, which is the main collective decision making body in the government.
It consists of 20-23 senior ministers, and there are several senior figures who are not members of the Cabinet but attend its meetings
Administrative support an help in delivering policy is provided by the Cabinet Office, headed by the Cabinet secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant

Question 3

What is a minister?

Answer 3

A member of either the House of Commons or House of Lords who serves in government, usually exercising specific responsibilities in a department

Question 4

What is a government department?

Answer 4

A part of the executive, usually with specific responsibilities over an area, such as health, education or defence. They are each headed by a Cabinet minister and supported by several junior ministers responsible for specific aspects of the department

Question 5

What are executive agencies?

Answer 5

Semi-independent bodies that carry out some of the functions of government departments e.g. the DVLA which is overseen by the Department for Transport

Question 6

What is the structure of the executive?

Answer 6

1. The Prime Minister
2. The Cabinet
3. Government departments
4. Executive agencies

Question 7

What are the main roles of the executive?

Answer 7

• Proposes legislation
• Proposes the budget
• Makes policy decisions

Question 8

The role of the executive in proposing legislation

Answer 8

• The executive introduces proposals for new laws or amendments to existing laws
• The executive announces a new programme at the start of each parliamentary session in the King’s Speech, which is read out to both houses by the monarch, but written by the government
• The May 2015 Queen’s Speech reflected the priorities of Cameron’s government; referendum on membership of the EU, measures to endure decisions affecting England, or England and Wales would only be taken with the consent of MPs from those parts of the UK, legislation to protect essential public services against strikes
• Most legislation is in a party’s manifesto as it means it cannot be opposed due to the Salisbury convention (1945)
• The executive doesn’t confine itself to measures proposed in a party manifesto at a general election, it also has the power to introduce legislation to contend with emergencies, and to amend existing statutes to bring the UK into line with international law - known as a ‘doctor’s mandate’
• Ministers will often consult with interested parties, such as pressure groups and professional bodies before introducing legislation. e.g. in 2015 the Cameron government undertook a consultation exercise with employers on its proposal to introduce an apprenticeship levy
• Most legislation passes through Commons without problems as the government has a majority

Question 9

The role of the executive in proposing the budget

Answer 9

• The government needs to raise revenue in order to fund public services and to meet its spending priorities.
• The budget is created by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in consultation with the Prime Minister
• The budget is an annual statement of the government’s plans for changes to taxation and public spending

Question 10

Key things in the 2024 budget

Answer 10

• The rates of income tax, VAT and National Insurance for employees to remain the same, but income tax bands to rise in line with inflation
• Legal minimum wage to rise from £11.44 to £12.21 (left wing)
• £3 cap on bus fares
• Air Passenger Duty to increase
• Day to day spending on NHS to rise by 4.7%

Question 11

The role of the executive in making policy decisions

Answer 11

• Policy decision is different from passing legislation as this involves a more long-term approach. Policy decisions can be based on events and ideology.
• Ideology - an all-encompassing vision which directs and decides actions and approaches to particular issues

Case studies in ideological application:
- Unions calling strikes; right wing ignore, left wing resolve, listen and raise pay
- Universal credit; right wing are less willing to give, left wing want easier access to universal credit
- Taxes on small businesses: right wing want to lower taxes, left wing want higher taxes

Question 12

The development of the Downing Street Machine

Answer 12

• Following the poor relationship between John Major’s government and the press, when Tony Blair’s New Labour came to power, they were determined to exercise control over the media
• Blair appointed Alastair Campbell to do this as his “Communications Advisor”

Question 13

Campbell - “spin doctor”

Answer 13

Because of his close relationship with the media, he and those around him became known as ‘spin doctors’, so-called because they were concerned with the press presentation of government policy

Question 14

Who was the first SPAD?

Answer 14

Marcia Williams - SPAD to Harold Wilson
‘To get access to Harold, you had to keep on the right side of Marcia’

Question 15

Example of bad use of SPADs

Answer 15

• Theresa May used Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill
• There were allegations of Hill bullying ministers, with claims that she screamed and swore at minsters
• Critics demanded the pair must go if May wanted to avoid a quick leadership contest
• Many didn’t like their closed style of government
• Hill and Timothy decided May’s manifesto, which then lost her the election, so they had to resign

Question 16

Cummings and the management of Johnson’s government

Answer 16

• Johnson employed Cummings as his SPAD (Cummings was the head of the successful Vote Leave campaign)
• After the splits in May’s cabinet, Cummings decided to take a hardline approach;
• Regular Friday afternoon briefings for cabinet minister and civil servants on strategy
• The sacking of a high profile advisor (who was escorted from Downing Street under armed guard) after Cummings suspected her of leaking information
• The sacking of 21 Tory MPs when they defied the whip and voted against the government
• The prorogation of Parliament
• The decision to fight the 2019 election on the campaign of ‘Get Brexit Done’

Question 17

What are the two aspects of ministerial responsibility?

Answer 17

Individual Ministerial Responsibility (IMR)
Collective Ministerial Responsibility (CMR)

Question 18

What does the ministerial code say?

Answer 18

‘Ministers have a duty to parliament to account, and be held to account for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies. They are obliged to give accurate information to parliament, and if they knowingly mislead parliament, they are expected to resign. Ministers… only remain in office for so long as they retain the confidence of the PM’

Question 19

Why may a minister be forced to resign?

Answer 19

• Personal Misconduct
• Mistakes made by the department
• Publicity/parliament reaction
• Attitude of the PM

Question 20

Examples of resignations as a result of IMR

Answer 20

Damien Green under May:
- resigned about the presence of pornographic images on his HoC computer
- May said she was ‘extremely sad’ about losing him and it was ‘with deep regret and enduring gratitude for the contribution you have made over many years that I asked you to resign from the government’
- Heywood found that Green had twice breached the ministerial code because his misleading comments - said he ‘didn’t download or view’ - and had fallen short of the 7 principles of public life
- His lie was the main reason for his resignation

David Laws under Cameron:
- resigned as chief secretary to the Treasury after admitting he claimed expenses to pay rent to his partner
- Following his resignation, Cameron said he was an ‘honourable man’ and wanted to see him serving again in the future

Question 21

What is collective ministerial responsibility?

Answer 21

The convention that minister must support all decisions of the government in public. Cabinet discussions (and disagreements) must be confidential

Question 22

What is one positive of CMR?

Answer 22

Cabinet are more united and therefore more stable

Question 23

What is one negative of CMR?

Answer 23

Undemocratic as minsters can’t give their full opinions

Question 24

Examples where PMs have set aside CMR?

Answer 24

Starmer allowed ministers to not have to follow the party whip and allowed them to vote with their conscience when voting on the Assisted Dying Bill
Cameron allowed minister to choose how they voted during Brexit

Question 25

Examples of resignations because of CMR and IMR

Answer 25

2014 - Baroness Warsi, Minister of State at foreign office, and minister for fait and communities because she disagreed with government policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict (CMR)
2014 - Maria Miller, Culture secretary resigned because of parliamentary expense claims related to her family homes (IMR)
2012 - Chris Huhne, energy and climate change secretary resigned because he was charged with perverting the course of justice over an earlier speeding prosecution (IMR)
2012 - Andrew Mitchell, chief whip, resigned because he was accused of insulting policemen on duty in Downing Street (IMR)
2011 - Liam Fox, defence secretary, resigned because he allowed a personal friend to accompany him as an adviser to official meetings (IMR)

Question 26

Which PMs had a good/bad relationship with their cabinet?

Answer 26

Good:
Tony Blair - had his first resignation after 5 years

Bad relationship:
Sunak - cabinet fell apart; Braverman and Jenrick both resigned and attacked him
Thatcher (at the end) - Cabinet brought her down (all advised her to resign); ‘treachery with a smile on its face’

Question 27

Which PMs had a good/bad SPAD?

Answer 27

Good:
Blair with Campbell

Bad:
Theresa May - spads caused her to loose her majority

Question 28

Which PMs had a good/bad media image?

Answer 28

Good:
Blair to start - even got the Sun (right wing) to support him, ‘things can only get better’
Thatcher - Iron Lady

Bad:
Truss - Lettuce
May - Maybot
Starmer? - 2 tier Keir

Question 29

Which PMs had a good/bad electoral success?

Answer 29

Successful:
Blair - 179 seat majority, biggest since 1935, won 3 consecutive elections, most electorally successful labour PM
Thatcher - 144 seat majority, won 3 consecutive elections

Bad:
May - lost her majority, had to enter into a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP

Question 30

What PM’s were good/bad at dealing with events?

Answer 30

Good:
Blair; Diana’s death - ‘the people’s princess’; 9/11 - ‘we are all Americans tonight’
Thatcher - Fauklands war - won her the next election
Starmer and riots
Johnson and Ukraine

Bad:
Truss and Queen’s death

Question 31

What PM’s were effective/ineffective?

Answer 31

Effective:
Atlee - 5 giants; still in place today
Blair; achieved what he set out to; lots still in place

Ineffective:
Truss - crashed the economy, only there for 49 days
Sunak - couldn’t control cabinet
May - promised to sort out Brexit, but didn’t

Question 32

What is elasticity theory?

Answer 32

The theory that the more a PM pushes against the barriers of their office, the more likely the constraints will pull them back into place
- because the constitution is uncodified, their are no set boundaries on the role of the PM

Question 33

Thatcher and elasticity theory

Answer 33

• Geoffrey Howe turned on Margaret Thatcher because she refused to set a date to enter the ERM and refused to discuss it - he and Nigel Lawson threatened to resign if she didn’t, and as a result she demoted Howe from foreign minister to leader of the HoC
• There was a conflict between Nigel Lawson (chancellor) and Alan Walters (SPAD) because Lawson’s views on economics weren’t welcome, but Walters’ were - Lawson felt he couldn’t do his job as he was constantly being undermined by Walters - said if Thatcher didn’t sack Walters then he would resign
• Thatcher didn’t think that she should have to campaign for people’s votes in the leadership race, but people held this against her as her competitor Micheal Heseltine had been canvasing votes - she didn’t have support so Major took her place in the second ballot and won
• ‘Treachery with a smile on its face’ refers to Thatcher feeling betrayed by her cabinet as they had had a meeting while she was away agreeing that she would not win. When she met with each Minster individually, and each said that she would loose but they would support her if she stood in the second ballot

Question 34

Boris Johnson and Elasticity Theory

Answer 34

How Boris dominated cabinet:
- Big majority which gave him legitimacy and authority
- Made pandemic decision without consulting parliament for votes
- Reliance on SPADS - sacked 21 MPs during Brexit wars because spad said to
- Recogniseable and popular personality in the media
- Appointed only Brexiteers to cabinet

How Boris stretched things too far:
- Too reliant on SPADs; Cummings caused Chancellor Said David to resign, and when Cummings resigned, he betrayed Johnson’s secrets
- Became too reliant on CMR; made ministers lie in interviews about Downing Street parties
- Appointed people based on loyalty rather than merit, left weak people in power at a time of national emergency and made able colleagues resentful (Williamson @ Education, Hancock @ health)
- Resignations of Sunak and David started the ball rolling for mass resignations and eventually bought him down

Question 35

What factors does a PM take into account when appointing minsters?

Answer 35

• Importance of including individuals with experience and ability; general ability as an administrator and communicator is more important that detailed knowledge of a particular policy area; Thatcher said she needed to ‘groom people’ to take over
• Establishing a PM’s authority, stamp their own authority on government; May sacked George Osborne almost immediately and 9 senior ministers in the next 48 hours
• Rewarding loyalty and including key allies - but also conciliating potential rivals; May had Johnson, Major had to appoint Heseltine
• Maintaining a balance between different factions to maintain party unity; May had brexiteers (Johnson) and remainers (Amber Rudd) , sunak attempted too - Braverman Thatcherite where he was One Nation
• Meeting expectations of diversity; Margaret Becket foreign secretary 2006 was the first woman to hold one of 3 most senior positions under PM; Truss had no white men in 4 most important minsters

Question 36

What factors affect the power relationship between the PM and Cabinet?

Answer 36

• Management skills of the PM; a determined and astute PM will exploit the elastic nature of the office to assert control over the cabinet - Thatcher began by building her cabinet in her image and dominating, but this began to undermine her
• PM’s ability to set the agenda; decisions are rarely taken by holding a vote in cabinet and the views of senior ministers hold the most weight - Wilson refused to discuss devaluation of point, Thatcher refused discussions about ERM
• Use of Cabinet committees and informal groups to take decisions - Blair and Brown’s decision to place management of interest rates in hands of the BoE, under the coalition there was ‘the Quad’ (Cameron, Clagg, Osborne and Alexander) met regularly to solve and prevent disputes
• Development of PM’s office (SPADS) and cabinet office; PM has access to more resources than other ministers - Wilson created Policy Unity (1974) to gain an overview and drive policy across departments, close cooperation between both offices under Blair to support coordination and implementation of policy
• Impact of the wider political and economic situation; PM with large majority will find it easier to dominate - Thatcher and Fauklands, Starmer and riots, Johnson and covid/ukraine, Brown and financial crash, May and grenfall,

Question 37

Tulip Siddiq resignaton

Answer 37

• Resigned because her family is seen as corrupt and she is responsible for anti-corruption
• Resigned under IMR - doesn’t relate to a cabinet decision
• Starmer said ‘door remains open’ for her and praised her work