Prime Minister & Cabinet Flashcards
Who is in the core executive?
PM
Cabinet and cabinet comittees
Key civil servants
Departments and their heads
What was thatcher’s style of cabinet
Authoritarian
Dictatorial
Hectoring
What was blair’s cabinet like?
Short- aprox 45 minutes
and not required. Issues had already been discussed
What was majors cabinet like?
Leaky cabinet Major has a hard time Ministers disagreeing with everything Euroskeptics 3 hours or more
What was the history of the term Prime minister?
First among equals
Primus inter pares
Jack straw quote
It is better to have people to be awarded on their own merit rather than the alleged merit of their foreberers
What is cabinet reshuffle?
When the PM rotates or changes the composition of members in cabinet
How many members in cabinet?
Generally 20-30 wartime was smaller- 5
Why reshuffle?
MP’s can be politically difficult to keep in- Jackie Smith
What is a kitchen cabinet?
Informal , not minuted, secrecy, Blair used a lot
Who do you appoint?
Big beasts
“Better to have the bastards inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in” Eisenhower
People with similar ideologies- Thatcher
Wilson picked a broad spectrum of ideologies
Why do you appoint?
Reward for “good behaviour”
Carrot and stick approach
What did Asquith say about reshuffles?
“The first essential for a PM is to be a good butcher”
Example of reshuffle?
Harold McMillan
night of the long knives- 1962
Sacked a third of cabinet
Freedom of PM?
PM appoints members
Ability to reshuffle
Thatcher sacked Lawson over ERM membership
Constraints on PM with cabinet?
Big beasts
Leaky cabinet
Blair couldn’t butcher brown
What is the only power of the PM
The only power of the PM is the power to persuade - Anthony King
We should have a smaller cabinet?
Members will be free of departmental workload
Meeting can be more frequently organised
Easier for PM to steer
Ministers would stop defending departmental interest
Describe the cabinet secretary?
Head of secretariat
Speaks to PM daily
Sets cabinet agenda with PM
Attends cabinet meetings
Why is the cabinet secretary a powerful position?
Power to influence PM
Knowledge of previous cabinet minutes
Anonymity
Experiance - only 10 since post war
Describe the cabinet office?
Assists cabinet secretariat Contains 1500 civil servant Supports PM Supports the cabinet Coordinates security and intelligence Deals with national emergency Blair years saw closer ties between PM and cabinet office
Collective responsibility quote?
Lord Melbourne “it doesn’t matter what we say as long as we all tell the same story”
Why do we have collective responsibility?
Shows United party
Shows ministers have the same views
Avoids confusion for the electorate
Who created cabinet office?
Lloyd George
Roles of PM?
Head of government and civil service. Chief legislator Chief diplomat Public relations chief Party chief
Describe prime ministers office?
Contains spads
Set up by Wilson
Bridge between PM and party- joined up government
Press office
The power of the PM is unlimited?
Uncodified constitution
Collective responsibility
Shaper parliament
Growth of Pm’s office
The Pm’s power is limited?
Backbenchers
Events
Media
Big beasts
Quote of sun to John major
“I’ve got a bucket of shit and I’m going to pour it all over your head tomorrow”
What is the core executive?
People at the heart of government.
Complete day to day governing of Britain
