The Prime Minister and cabinet

Question 1

What are the 8 main duties of the Prime Minister?

Answer 1

1. Appointing ministers
2. Chairing meetings of the Cabinet
3. Meeting the Queen every week
4. Declaring War (nominally the Monarch can do this, but in reality it is the PM)
5. Appointing senior judges, Church of England clergy, peerages and other honours
6. Recommending the dissolution of Parliament for a General Election
7. Attending Prime Minister’s Question Time each week to answer questions from MPs
8. Writing the Queen’s Speech, outlining the Bills to be introduced to Parliament (nb this is not the same as the Queen’s Christmas message)

Question 2

Of the 100 or so ministers appointed by the PM, how many are in the cabinet?

Answer 2

About 20

Question 3

What are these ministers usually known as and what does this entail?

Answer 3

Secretaries of State - they head a governmental department

Question 4

Which two doctrines are ministers expected to adhere to and what do they entail?

Answer 4

1. “Collective responsibility” – publicly supporting the government’s policy, even if they privately disagree with it.
2. “Individual ministerial responsibility” –he/she takes responsibility for the actions of his/her dept and should resign if a serious error is made.

Question 5

What are Civil Servants?

Answer 5

Permanent employees of the government who are expected to be politically neutral

Question 6

How does the role of civil servants interact with the role of politicians?

Answer 6

Politicians (Ministers and MPs) decide on policy, the civil servants implement that policy

Question 7

What is a “permanent secretary?”

Answer 7

A senior civil servant who heads each department