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UK Politics Summer Exam > Prime Minister and Executive > Flashcards

Prime Minister and Executive Flashcards

1
Q

What is the executive?

A

It consists of 100 ministers and the civil servants who support them - it is also known as the government and it enforces laws

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2
Q

What ministers compose the Executive?

A
  1. Prime minister
  2. Cabinet ministers
  3. Junior ministers
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3
Q

What is the role of the PM?

A
  1. Head of government - appoint all ministers (power of patronage)
  2. Direct government policy and provide national policy
  3. Chair of the Cabinet (primus inter pares - first among equals)
  4. Responsible for setting up, reorgansing and abolishing departments
  5. Main figure in the commons
  6. Exercise royal prerogative powers
  7. International role in negotiating with foreign states
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4
Q

How many cabinet minsters are there and what are their functions?

A

Around 25, their functions include:

  1. Making formal decisisions
  2. Coordinating and formulating government policy
  3. Providing a forum for disagreements between ministers
  4. Managing parliamentary business e.g. timetabling - Chief Whip, Leader of Commons/Lords
  5. Crisis management and managing emergencies e.g. COVID, 2017 westminster attacks
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5
Q

What are junior ministers?

A
  • Approximentally 75-100 ministers working under Cabinet ministers in specific departments
  • Each department is responsible for an area of policy, and junior ministers are in charge of specific areas within the department
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6
Q

What are the three main functions of the Executive as a whole?

A
  1. Proposing legislation
  2. Proposing a budget to the Commons
  3. Running the country and making day-to-day decisions
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7
Q

What are cabinet committees?

A
  • These are groups of ministers that allow decisions to take place with fewer ministers than the full Cabinet - the PM has the power to set these up
  • There are approximately 25 of these and they are usually chaired by the PM, Chancellor or the Home Secretary
  • Examples include the National Security Council, and the Home Affairs Committee
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8
Q

Why is the Cabinet still important?

A
  • It makes key decisions - like decididing on a second national lockdown
  • Ministers in charge of large departments are very powerful - e.g. the Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • No PM can survive without Cabinet support and can influence policy often - Sunak prevented a second lockdown in September, May’s cabinet decided on a hard Brexit
  • Disputes can be held out of the public eye
  • COBRA deals with emergencies, not just the PM
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9
Q

Why is the Cabinet not as important?

A
  • The PM has significant powers of patronage over the Cabinet
  • PMs are relying more and more on Special Advisers (SpAds) that are unelected to give them advice
  • Collective responsibility means the PM can silence dissenters
  • The Cabinet meets for less time and the PM often has an ‘inner circle’ to make decisions, especially through committees
  • PMs shape the Cabinet’s agenda, meetings and committees
  • The existence of bi-laterals and sofa government’s to bypass government
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10
Q

What are the two forms of ministerial responsibility?

A
  1. Collective ministerial responsibility - all ministers stick to an agreed policy and do not question it in public
  2. Individual ministerial responsibility - all ministers have a legal and political responsibility for their actions in office
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11
Q

What are the three principles of CMR?

A
  1. Secrecy: ministers must keep cabinet discussions secret.
  2. Binding Decisions: all decisions reached in the cabinet are binding for all ministers, regardless of whether they agree or not, or even of whether they were aware of the decision being taken at all. Those unable to support a cabinet decision publicly should resign.
  3. Confidence vote: if the government is defeated in a vote of no confidence in Parliament, the entire cabinet must resign
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12
Q

Why is CMR necessary?

A
  • It presents a united front against opposition
  • Discussions inside Cabinet remain confidential
  • Binds the government together
  • It enhances prime ministerial power, as they can silence critics
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13
Q

What happens when ministers break CMR? Give two examples.

A

They are expected to resign:

  1. David Davis, 2018 (Brexit Secretary) - Davis resigned after the Government pursued a closer relationship post-Brexit that Davis deemed “a compromise too far”, claiming that he was not an “enthusiastic believer”
  2. Boris Johnson, 2018 (Foreign Secretary) - Shortly after Davis’s resignation, Boris resigned as he said he could not support the Government over their Brexit proposals and as the cabinet must have “collective responsibility”, he had to resign.
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14
Q

When has collective ministerial responsibility come under strain in recent years?

Give one example from each PM since Blair

A
  1. Blair, late 1990s: split in Cabinet between Euro-sceptics (e.g. Portillo, Redwood) and Euro-enthusiasts (Heseltine, Clarke) - leaked to media and well publicised but no-one resigned
  2. Blair and Brown had frequent disagreeements in Cabinet that were also often leaked
  3. Cameron, 2014: Baroness Warsi resigned from government over policy on the escalation of violence in Israel
  4. May, 2018: Johnson’s and Davis’ resignations, Vince Cable stated the Cabinet was in ‘a state of civil war’ over Brexit
  5. Johnson, 2019: Amber Rudd resigned as Sec/State of Work and Pensions over Boris Johnson’s “purge” of the party and his “failure” to pursue a deal with the EU
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15
Q

What is legal responsibility?

A

It is a form of IMR:

  1. Ministers are responsible for all that goes on within their own department, whether or not thay are directly concerened
  2. They must give accurate information to parliament and if they mislead parliament, they should resign

Ultimatelty, the PM decides how long a minister remains in office if legal responsibility is broken

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16
Q

What is political responsibility?

A

The second form of IMR - ministers are responsible for their own personal conduct

Whether a minister has to resign because of poor personal conduct depends on:

  1. how serious the issue is
  2. how critical parliament is of it
  3. how the PM responds
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17
Q

Three examples of IMR being broken that led to a resignation and what type of IMR it was:

A
  1. Amber Rudd (Home Secretary) 2018 - Amber Rudd was forced to resign after it arose, she had lied to Parliament by claiming there were no deportation targets – in fact there were, although she claimed she had no knowledge of them (either way, she took the blame) - LEGAL
  2. Michael Fallon (Defence Secretary) 2017 - Fallon resigned to limit the political limit of accusations from his past that his behaviour towards women “fell below the high standards […] of the armed forces” - POLITICAL
  3. Estelle Morris (Education Secretary) 2002 - Some students’ A-Level grades were knocked downwards in order to make it seem like the exams were not a lot easier than they should be – this led to numerous inquiries and investigation, and eventually the Secretary’s resignation - LEGAL
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18
Q

How did the coalition affect IMR?

A

IMR was ‘reinterpeted’ for Vince Cable - instead of being sacked as Business Secretary for ‘declaring war’ on Rupert Murdoch to undercover reporters, he was stripped of all responsibilities for competition and policy issues related to media and broadcasting

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19
Q

How did the coalition affect CMR?

A

CMR only applied to areas covered by Coalition Agreement, which didn’t include:

  • The AV referendum, LD support whereas CON disagree
  • Nuclear power stations, tax allowances, tuition fees
  • Renewal of Trident
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20
Q

What are the royal prerogative powers?

A

These are powers exercised on behalf of the monarch by the PM and executive

  1. Patronage
  2. Deploying the military
  3. Making treaties
  4. Head of the civil service
  5. Used to be calling an election, removed by FTPA 2011 but CON plan to repeal this…
  6. Issue and withdraw passports
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21
Q

How does the PM select ministers? Give an example for each reason.

A
  1. Close allies of the PM - e.g. Gordon Brown appointing Ed Balls
  2. A big beast in the parliamentary party - BJ in David Camerons
  3. Ability of the minister - Lord Mandelson appointed by GB in 2008, made a lord just so he could be in cabinet
  4. Idealogical balance - May’s Brexit/Remainer stance
  5. Choosing adversaries to silence them with CMR - TM appointing BJ as foreign secretary, TB appointing GB as chancellor
  6. A socially balanced Cabinet - TM apointing women in top jobs, Amber Rudd e.g.
  7. Good parliamentarians - William Hague by DC
22
Q

What are the limits of the power of patronage?

A
  1. ‘Big beasts’ have to be included
  2. Representation of party views
  3. Rivals included to silence
  4. Botched reshuffles can cause problems like bad press
23
Q

What are the limits of the PM’s power over the party?

A
  1. Loyalty is dependent on the possibility of electoral success
  2. Backbench rebellions in the Commons are possible
  3. Risk of leadership challenge
24
Q

What factors affect the powers of the PM?

A
  1. Personality
  2. Cabinet and Party
  3. Majority
  4. Popularity
  5. Opposition
  6. Media
  7. Political Context
25
Q

What is the so-called ‘PM’s office’?

A

This consists of the personnel that supports the PM, including the No. 10 Policy Unit, Press Office and Cabinet Office, and their special advisors

26
Q

What are the limits of the insitutional support for the PM?

A
  1. There is no structured PM department
  2. Powers of large, rival departments such as the Treasury overshadow the size of the PM’s office
27
Q

What is a presidential government? And why do some feel like this is what we have in the UK?

What is an example of a presidential government?

A

As the PM often makes decisions within their ‘inner circle’ or sofa government, and can silence dissenting cabinet ministers with CMR, some argue they dominate the executive

This leads to a presidential government - a government that is controlled by one single figure that is independent of the legislature

For example, Tony Blair gave interest-raising powers to the Bank of England before his first cabinet meeting, and failed to consult them over going to

28
Q

What is an ‘elective dictatorship’ and why is it in place today?

A

Parliament is dominated by the government as long as they have a substatinal overall majority, especially due to the ‘winner’s bonus’ of FPTP

Government bills virtually always pass the commons because of this majority - 89% of government-backed bills recieved royal assent between 1997 and 2017

29
Q

When was Margaret Thatcher PM? What was her political context (size of majority; party unity; contemporary events/issues)?

A
  • 1979-1990
  • She started with a moderate majority of 43, which was then increased to a landslide victory of a majority of 144 seats in the 1983 general election. However, she was not the most popular within her own party.
  • Dealt with the Falklands War, NI Peace Process and economic crisis.
30
Q

What are 5 examples of Maggie T demonstrating her ability to dictate events and policy?

A
  1. Thatcher ordered a torpedoing of an Argentinian ship in the Falklands, successfully stopped threat in 1982
  2. Crushed union power in the miners’ strikes
  3. Her economic policy of ‘Thatcherism’, massively reduced public spending and benefits, lowered inflation successfully
31
Q

What are 3 examples of Maggie T demonstrating her LACK OF ability to dictate events and policy?

A
  1. She failed to secure peace in Northern Ireland
  2. The Poll Tax (89-93), flat tax on everyone over 18 regardless of wealth.
    • Hugely unpupular and caused uproar and riots
    • Labour promised to abolish it, and this influenced Heseltine to run for leadership against MT
  3. Race riots from the 1981 budget
32
Q

Whar are two examples demonstrating the power of Margaret Thatcher over the Cabinet?

A
  1. 1981 - held extensive debate about controversial tax-raising budget, listened to opinions before making her own decision
  2. 1981 - hunger strike in NI, she refused to make concessions and imposed her own views that the Cabinet deemed cold and harsh
33
Q

What are two examples demonstrating her LACK of power over the Cabinet?

A
  1. Major forced her into adopting the ERM even though she was strictly against it
  2. ‘Westland Affair’ (1986) - Heseltine resigned because he disagreed with the MT’s decision in the middle of a cabinet meeting
34
Q

Why did MT eventually leave office?

A

The circumstances that led to her resignation began with Sir Geoffrey Howe’s resignation speech.

He was the fourth minister to resign in a row over Europe, but his resignation speech was seen as devastating, especially his suggestion that others should consult their consciences about whether they could remain in the cabinet too.

A few days later Michael Heseltine launched a leadership bid. Thatcher had easily seen off a leadership challenge in 1989, and again she won the leadership contest in the first round, however, the leadership contest rules meant that she required a 15% margin above Heseltine to prevent a second round of voting.

However, while her initial response was to say she would fight on to win, several of her cabinet ministers spoke to her, one after another, to encourage her to stand down, even those who said that they would personally vote for her but feared she would lose.

Mrs Thatcher then withdrew from the contest, leading to Douglas Hurd and John Major joining the race and eventually Major becoming prime minister.

35
Q

When was Therea May PM and what was the political context?

A
  • 2016-2019
  • She won the Conservative leadership election after Cameron resigned, and won the election she called with a minority government after a confidence and supply deal with the DUP.
  • Brexit dominated her leadership
36
Q

Give an example of Theresa May dictating events and determining policy

A

She reintroduced funding for grammar schools

37
Q

Give two examples demonstrating her LACK of ability to dictate events and determine policy

A
  • BREXIT:
    • She could not get her own MPs or Parliament to back her deal - May suffered the heaviest parliamentary defeat of a British PM in the democratic era
    • She also faced a vote of confidence within her own party, which she survived 200-117
  • She was serverly criticised for her lack of action over Grenfell
38
Q

Give four examples demonstrating TM power over Cabinet

A
  1. Got rid of ‘Notting hill boys’: Cameron’s freinds osbourne and gove
  2. Called snap election without discussing with Cabinet
  3. No input from her cabinet for manifesto
  4. Chequers 2018, weekend with cabinet and demanded them to agree in public
39
Q

Give four examples demonstrating TM’s LACK of power over the Cabinet

A
  1. Lost 3 ‘meaningful votes’ on her withdrawal bill
  2. High profile resignations - David Davis, Johnson
  3. Amber Rudd and Johnson openly criticising Brexit deal, breaching cmr
  4. Multiple failed cabinet reshuffles
40
Q

Why did TM leave office?

A
  • On 22 April it was announced that the leaders of 70 Conservative Associations had signed a petition calling for a vote of no confidence. The non-binding vote, to be determined by 800 of the party’s senior officials, would be the first time such an instance has occurred
  • Its chair, Graham Brady, asked for clarity on when May would step down from office.
  • On the 23 May European Parliament election, the Conservative Party nursed what many called the worst nation-wide election result in their 185-year history.
  • The next day, May announced that she would resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party effective 7 June 2019,
41
Q

What is the difference between the pre-eminence and predominance of a prime minister and their powers?

A

A prime minister is automatically pre-eminent as they have a large amount of resources and royal prerogative powers, but if they want to be predominant they have to make effective use of their personal power resources, such as being electorally popular/successful or a high standing within their party

42
Q

Is the Cabinet descriptively representative?

A

Heavily depends on PM:

  • 17% BAME in Johnson’s Cabinet. Great increase as previously only 5 full members of cabinet had been BAME, starting with Blair.
  • BUT 1979-1990 Conservative cabinets had 1 woman at most.
  • Blair 2006 & May 2016 had 8 women in Cabinets – highest ever number.
  • May 2016 appointed Amber Rudd as Home Secretary – 1st time half of ‘great offices’ were women.
43
Q

Summarise how Parliament can check the Executive

A
  1. Backbench rebellions
  2. Select, liason and public accounts committees
  3. Questioning, PMQs etc
  4. Opposition days
44
Q

Has the balance of power between the Executive and Parliament changed over recent years?

A

YES:

  • Wright Reforms have increased the power of backbenchers
  • Labour has used humble address to force the gov’s hand
  • Boris Johnson has been accused of misleading Parliament on multiple occasions and his prorougation was declared illegal

NO:

  • The executive and legislative are still fused, and the Conservatives are planning a repeal of the FTPA that constrains the power to dissolve parliament
  • With a large majority, Johnson’s power over the legislative is very high
45
Q

Difference between Preeminence v predominance

A

Preeminence - Formal powers, being legal head of the Gov, crown prerogatives, policy control etc

Predominance - Strong Leadership, political and electoral success - things that not every PM has it depends on the individual

46
Q

Powers of the PM post Covid

A

Passed the Coronavirus Act 2020 which grants them extended emergency powers to suspend or regulate public life. There wasnt time for heavy debate or scrutiny in the commons so it was somewhat criticised. After criticisms the government conceded and now It has to be renewed by Parliament every 6 months.

The PM has become more popular as often happens during a national emergency despite the cabinet and PM being involved in some scandals. Most recently David Cameron and Rishi Sunak

47
Q

Three examples of IMR being broken but without resignations?

A
  1. Gavin Williamson (Education Secretary) 2020 - Williamson refused to resign despite a notorious A-Level fiasco over the allocation of grades when the 2020 exams were cancelled
  2. Priti Patel (Home Secretary) 2020 - Patel refused to resign after an ethics investigation concluded she had bullied civil servants, breaking the ministerial code. Sir Alex Allen (BJ ethics adviser) resigns in protest.
  3. Matt Hancock (Health Secretary) 2021 - Hancock refused to resign after a court ruled that he had unlawfully failed to publish details of billions of pounds worth of coronavirus-related contracts
48
Q

Why could you argue that the size of majority significantly affects the power of the PM?

A
  1. Blair wasn’t defeated in Parliament between 1997 and 2005
  2. Boris Johnson was able to pass his brexit deal with his 80 seat majority whereas May suffered so many defeats with her minority government that she resigned
49
Q

Why could you argue that the size of majorirty doesn’t matter as much?

A

Thatcher had a 102 seat majority when she was forced to resign as her cabinet refused to back her bid for leadership of the party, after Heseltine challenged her

50
Q

Can events affect the power of the PM?

A

YES

  • ​John Major struggled with his internal party divisions
  • Brown suffered with the 2008 financial crash
  • May had to deal with the Brexit decisions
  • Johnson still dealing with COVID

They become ‘managers’ of a crisis, with all their time devoted to that and are unable to pass any significant legislation.

UK Politics Summer Exam (8 decks)

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