The PM And The Executive- The Powers Of PM Flashcards
The prime minister derives their authority and dominance of government from the following sources of power:
+ patronage
+ royal prerogative
+ parliamentary majority
+ party support
+ personal mandate
Patronage and the appointments of ministers
+ Patronage forms part of the prime minister’s prerogative powers but is
often analysed separately since it is so frequently used.
+ Members of the cabinet therefore owe their promotion to the prime minister and are bound by collective ministerial responsibility.
+ Prime ministers also have a say in other public appointments, including
those of the most senior civil servants.
Main component of patronage
The main component of this power is the ability to appoint and dismiss
cabinet and junior ministers (the co-called payroll vote).
Due to patronage members of the cabinet therefore owe their promotion to ?
Members of the cabinet therefore owe their promotion to the prime minister and are bound by collective ministerial responsibility.
Patronage
The power of appointment and dismissal. In relation to the prime minister, patronage over ministerial offices gives them great power because it promotes loyalty among those who are promoted or who hope to be promoted.
Payroll vote
Senior ministers and junior ministers who, since they owe their promotion to the prime minister, can be relied upon to vote in favour of government legislation.
The power of patronage allowed the PM the follow advantages:
+ It enables the prime minister to shape the ideological direction of the cabinet. Thatcher appointed ‘Dries’, New Right Tories who agreed with her policies.
+ It means the prime minister can reward those who are loyal to them. Boris Johnson promoted those who supported his leadership campaign (e.g. Rishi Sunak) and sacked those who questioned his Brexit policy (e.g. Julian Smith).
+ It gives the prime minister the opportunity to promote younger MPs with potential and to increase diversity. Theresa May promoted younger women to senior positions, such as Amber Rudd to home secretary.
What factors do PMs have to take into account when selecting ministers ?
The prime minister often has to satisfy the various factions within their political party.
It is safer to have potential rivals in cabinet, bound under collective ministerial responsibility, than to have them ‘sniping’ from the backbenches.
The type of government also affects the leeway with patronage.
Ministers may refuse a job.
Prime ministers have to take into account a range of factors when selecting ministers and therefore their powers of patronage are
Prime ministers have to take into account a range of factors when selecting ministers and therefore their powers of patronage are
=not absolute.
Example of the following factor a PM needs to take into account when selecting ministers
The prime minister often has to satisfy the various factions within their political party.
Example
Thatcher initially was forced into appointing the Wets’, moderates who disagreed with her New Right agenda.
Example of the following factor PM needs to take into account when selecting ministers
It is safer to have potential rivals in cabinet, bound under collective ministerial responsibility, than to have them ‘sniping’ from the backbenches.
Both Cameron and May felt it was safer to have Boris Johnson in their cabinets than as a backbench MP.
Example of the following factor PM needs to take into account when selecting ministers
The type of government also affects the leeway with patronage.
In a coalition, the prime minister is forced to promote MPs from the junior coalition partner. Cameron agreed to appoint five Lib Dems to cabinet.
With a small majority and then a hung parliament, Theresa May had to promote prominent ‘Brexiteers’, including Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis, to senior positions.
Example of the following factor PM needs to take into account when selecting ministers
Ministers may refuse a job.
Theresa May’s attempts to reshuffle unfavourable ministers seriously backfired in January 2018 when Jeremy Hunt refused to move from his post as health secretary.
When referring to the limits of patronage, you should…?
incorporate the need for prime ministers to reflect the ideological factions of their party.
For example, Blair had to consider those who favoured traditional socialism while Thatcher had to initially promote One Nation Conservatives.
Royal prerogative
The unwritten powers that have passed from the monarch to the prime minister. These include powers of patronage, acting as commander-in-chief and negotiating foreign treaties.
The royal prerogative concerns
And what has their use not required
those powers that have passed from the monarch to the prime minister.
Their use has not in the past required approval by Parliament and thus they have allowed the prime minister to act independently.
What the royal prerogative allow the PM to do?
The prime minister is considered the de facto commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Theresa May authorised bombing of Syria in 2018 without a vote in the House of Commons.
The prime minister is effectively chief diplomat since they are able to sign treaties and enter into negotiation with other countries. After the 2016 referendum, successive prime ministers took the lead in negotiating a post-Brexit relationship with the EU.
The prime minister has huge influence in deciding the date of the next election, capitalising on favourable circumstances, as they can ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament. Thatcher called an election in 1983 to capitalise on her popularity after the Falklands War.
Recent limits to the royal prerogative power of :
The prime minister is considered the de facto commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Theresa May authorised bombing of Syria in 2018 without a vote in the House of Commons.
It is now accepted that the prime minister should make major military commitments only ‘on the advice and with the sanction of Parliament’. A precedent was set, in the vote on the Iraq War, that Parliament, not the prime minister, has the final say on committing ground troops into military conflict.
Recent limits to the royal prerogative power of :
The prime minister is effectively chief diplomat since they are able to sign treaties and enter into negotiation with other countries. After the 2016 referendum, successive prime ministers took the lead in negotiating a post-Brexit relationship with the EU.
Treaties that have been approved by Parliament can only be undone by Parliament, a fact confirmed by the UK Supreme Court’s decisions relating to Brexit.
Recent limits to the royal prerogative power of :
The prime minister has huge influence in deciding the date of the next election, capitalising on favourable circumstances, as they can ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament. Thatcher called an election in 1983 to capitalise on her popularity after the Falklands War.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act requires the prime minister to win a supermajority in Parliament for an election to be called early. While Boris Johnson was able eventually to hold an election in December 2019, the House of Commons initially blocked him from calling an election earlier on in that year.
A prime minister, as leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, usually enjoys…?
a Commons majority.
Having a parliamentary majority will increase the likelihood that the government’s legislative agenda will be passed.
Having a parliamentary majority will increase the likelihood that…
that the government’s legislative agenda will be passed
PMs with Commons majorities
After landslide election victories in 1997 and 2001, Tony Blair did not suffer a single Commons defeat between 1997 and 2005.
Having won a majority after the 2015 general election, the Conservatives were able to pass laws they had been unable to pass in coalition, notably legislation paving the way to a referendum on EU membership.
Boris Johnson’s 80-seat parliamentary majority secured at the 2019 general election allowed him to steer through Brexit at the end of January 2020.
PMs without Commons majorities
The halving of the Blair government’s Commons majority at the 2005 general election resulted in its first Commons defeat in 2006, when proposals on detaining terror suspects for up to 90 days were rejected.
With just a small Commons majority after 2015, the Tories lost a vote on loosening Sunday trading laws in March 2016.
In contrast, Theresa May was unable to steer through her Brexit legislation after failing to win a Commons majority at the 2017 general election, suffering the heaviest Commons defeat of any British prime minister when MPS rejected her Brexit bill by 230 votes in January 2019.
