The prime minister and cabinet

Question 1

What are the key functions of the PM?

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Answer 1

1. The PM represents the country abroad
   E.g. they attend international functions of world leaders such as G7 summits
2. Selecting the cabinet
   E.g. Boris Johnson appointed Rishi Sunak to Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2019 reshuffle
   (allows PM to bring in new talent or freshen up their team)
3. Being the main ‘defender and explainer’ of government policy and actions to both parliament and the media
   E.g. PMQs

Question 2

What are the key powers of the PM?

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Answer 2

1. Royal prerogative powers.
   E.g. David Cameron authorised air strikes on ISIS using his royal prerogative powers.
2. The power of patronage
   E.g. the PM can choose their cabinet and promoting, demoting and reshuffling members as appropriate. Boris Johnson appointed Rishi Sunak to Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2019 reshuffle
   (can offer promotion in return for favours)
3. Shaping committees
   E.g. PM shapes the public bills committee
   (this is significant as it scrutinises bills)

Question 3

What are examples of cabinet committees?

Answer 3

1. National Security Council
   E.g. this is the main forum for discussion of government objectives for national security.
2. European Union Exit and Trade Committee
   E.g. this oversees the UK’s exit negotiations with the EU
3. Social Reform Committee
   E.g. this oversees and agrees social policy reforms such as the introduction of universal credit and ways to improve social mobility.

(the composition, membership and terms of reference are decided solely by the PM).

Question 4

What are key aspects of cabinet committees?

Answer 4

1. They tend to be focused on key policy.
   E.g. European Union Exit and Trade Committee, oversees the UK’s exit negotiations with the EU.
2. They tend to comprise of ministers from several related departments to enable joint up government
   E.g. the Social Reform Committee includes the secretaries of state for education, health and social care as well as work and pensions
3. The cabinet is sometimes characterised by informal, smaller groupings.
   E.g. Tony Blair preferred very small meetings, known as ‘sofa government’, often with individual ministers.

Question 5

Who are the key players in the policy making process?

Answer 5

1. The PM
   E.g. most PM’s enter with a clear policy agenda often based on personal convictions and principles, such as Tony Blair and constitutional change, such as the HRA 1998.
2. The cabinet, will discuss and debate policy initiatives. Where there are disagreements, they are often resolved at cabinet meetings.
   E.g. details of Brexit negotiations from 2017 onwards were thrashed out in the cabinet.
3. Special advisors, they are hand picked by the PM to give advice.
   E.g. Theresa May’s special adviser Nick Timothy played a major part in her policy pledge to reintroduce some grammar schools.

Question 6

Why are relationships between PM and cabinet so poor?

Answer 6

1. Political parties are broad-based so contain a wide variety of views, therefore factions emerge
   E.g. Brexiteers and Remainers under Theresa May
2. Most cabinets contain politicians who are too senior or popular to leave out
   E.g. Boris Johnson in Theresa May’s cabinet until he resigned over the Brexit deal proposals
3. Each minister is lobbying for departmental resources and wants priority given to their department’s financial needs
   E.g. more money for the NHS or the latest military equipment

Question 7

What is collective cabinet responsibility?

Answer 7

Collective responsibility is the convention that all ministers are bound by government policies and must defend and promote them to the public

1. Collective responsibility is occasionally suspended by PM when there are clear divisions within cabinet.
   E.g. David Cameron formally suspended it before referendums on continued membership of the EU.
2. Ministers can occasionally breach collective cabinet responsibility and survive.
   E.g. Ken Clarke and Theresa May made conflicting statements about the HRA in 2010-11.
3. Some ministers secretly breach collective cabinet responsibility by talking to journalists ‘off the record’.
   E.g. In 2018 Boris Johnson was criticised for revealing in advance that he would argue at cabinet for 5 billion pounds extra to be spend on the NHS.

Question 8

What is individual responsibility?

Answer 8

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Question 9

Which ministers have resigned and why?

Answer 9

1. Breach of collective cabinet responsibility.
   E.g. Iain Duncan Smith resigned as work and pensions secretary in 2016 due to planned cuts to disability benefits, which he described as ‘a compromise too far’.
2. Breach of individual ministerial responsibility.
   E.g. Sir Thomas Dugdale resigned as Minister of Agriculture as an enquiry found serious flaws in procedures and practises by civil servants regarding a case of compulsory purchase of farmland for military airfield.
3. Ill health.
   E.g. James Brokenshire resigned from the cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary to undergo cancer treatment in 2018.
4. Personal scandal.
   E.g. Matt Hancock resigned in 2021 after breaching social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague.

Question 10

Is the PM’s involvement in policy making the most dominant factor?

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Answer 10

1. No, the cabinets involvement is most dominant. They discuss and debate policy initiatives. Where there are disagreements, they are often resolved at cabinet meetings.
   E.g. details of Brexit negotiations from 2017 onwards were thrashed out in the cabinet.

Yes.
E.g. Margaret Thatcher’s personal role in the introduction of the poll tax 1990.
-Taxation reform was a 1987 manifesto pledge
-However, the poll tax specifically was strongly supported by Thatcher, she personally annotated many of the briefings and memorandums about the proposals.
-Despite criticism by ministers and even the cabinet, Thatcher’s personal involvement allowed it to passed anyway.
-Thatcher later had to resign since many MPs disliked the policy and criticised her, and she failed to secure enough votes in the first ballot.
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3. Special advisors, they are hand picked by the PM to give advice.
   E.g. Theresa May’s special adviser Nick Timothy played a major part in her policy pledge to reintroduce some grammar schools.
4. Yes.
   E.g. Tony Blair’s role in the Iraq war 2003.
   -It was not purely Blair’s idea, his close friend George W. Bush persuaded him.
   -The was arguably unnecessary, since Blair’s claims of WMD’s were found to be much exaggerated.
   -25% of Labour MPs rebelled against their own leadership, but Blair won the vote, showing that without the personal involvement of Blair, it is unlikely to have passed due to it’s unpopularity.
   -Due to Blair’s personal involvement, his legacy was tarnished and it hastened his resignation several years later in 2007.