The power of the prime minister and Cabinet: Flashcards
Factors governing the prime minister’s selection of ministers
1) Who does the power to appoint, reshuffle and dismiss ministers, belong to?
2) In recent times, what has been the exception to this?
1) The Prime Minister
2) In 2010, Nick Clegg was allowed to nominate 5 of the 22 Cabinet posts, and also an agreed number of junior posts
Having individuals with experience and ability:
1) What are natural backbenchers?
2) Why is general ability as an administrator and communicator the most important?
3) How did John Major, who came to power through a leadership contest, treat his defeated rivals?
1) They don’t have an aptitude for high office, or their views are too far outside the mainstream, to make them acceptable as ministers.
2) This is because civil servants can make up for anything else, such as providing knowledge on a particular policy area.
3) He kept Douglas Heard at the Foreign Office, and offered Michael Heseltine a choice of senior posts.
Establishing the Prime Minster’s Authority:
1) What will an incoming Prime Minister want to do?
2) Use John Major as an example, when he came to power in 1990:
3) What happened in the case of Theresa May and Cameron?
1) They will want to stamp their own authority.
2) He didn’t remove key people associated with Thatcher, but waited until he had won his own general elections, 18 months later.
3) Former chancellor George Osborne was sacked, followed by another 9 ministers, over the next 24 hours.
Rewarding loyalty, but also conciliating rivals:
1) How did Blair begin his second term in 2001?
2) Give an example of how Blair occupied a troublesome MP:
1) He appointed many supporters of New Labour, such as David Blunkett as home secretary, and Alan Milburn as health secretary.
2) He appointed Brown as chancellor.
Maintaining a balance between different factions:
1) How did Theresa May include supporters of both sides, of the Brexit debate?
1) She included supporters of Brexit, such as Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary) and Liam Fox (International Trade Secretary), but also those who were against it, Philip Hammond (Chancellor) and Amber Rudd (Home Secretary).
Meet expectations of diversity:
1) In 1990, why did John Major face a lot of backlash?
2) Who was the first woman to hold one of the three most senior posts, under the prime minister?
3) How has there been greater representation of ethnic minority groups?
1) He included no women, which he later corrected.
2) Margaret Beckett, who was made foreign secretary by Tony Blair in 2006.
3) Sajid Javid has served in both the Cameron and May governments.
