The Prime Minister And The Cabinet: The Power Of The Prime Minister And Cabinet To Dictate Events And Determine Policy-Making

Question 1

What are some Cleary examples of when the prime minister or cabinet have dictated events and policy decisions?

Answer 1

The Poll Tax 1990 by Thatcher
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 by Blair
The early election in 2017 by May

Question 2

What issue, that caused Thatcher issues, did the Conservative have in their 1987 party manifesto?

Answer 2

To reform the system of domestic rates, as only homeowners or landlords Pau the property-based tax that helped fund local councils

Question 3

What was the formal name of the poll tax?

Answer 3

Community charge

Question 4

Where did Thatcher try to implement the poll tax in 1989, before rolling it ut nationally?

Answer 4

In Scotland, and with very poor results

Question 5

Where did poll tax riots first break out?

Answer 5

In London and elsewhere in March 1990, with 100 injuries and 400 arrest in central London

Question 6

Why was the poll tax difficult to collect?

Answer 6

Because people could easily move or disappear in a way that bricks and mortar cannot, and with high rates of evasion it proved costly to administer

Question 7

Who heavily criticised and parodied the poll tax?

Answer 7

The media, with the ‘duke and dustman’ analogy

Question 8

After Thatcher’s resignation what did Major replace poll tax with?

Answer 8

Council tax

Question 9

What did the poll tax highlight about Thatcher?

Answer 9

It Highlighted the growing concerns within her own party of her inability and unwillingness to listen to others

Question 10

What coloured Blair’s legacy?

Answer 10

The Iraq War

Question 11

What was Blair’s justification of the Iraq War?

Answer 11

In the moral grounds of the removal of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), though no WMDs were found

Question 12

What was the decision to mobilise UK troop in Iraq a decision based on?

Answer 12

Based on Blair wanting to cement his personal relationship with Bush

Question 13

Which reports were highly critical of Blair ands governments decisions in Iraq?

Answer 13

The 2004 report by Lord Butler and the 2016 Chilcot Report

Question 14

Why did Blair’s style of government hurt him in Iraq?

Answer 14

The informal ‘sofa government’ meant there was little by way of informed collective discussion and decision-making, with Blair disregarding security warnings, and criticism that the legal basis for going to war had not been fully evaluated

Question 15

Which resignations from the cabinet about Raw weakened Blair’s position?

Answer 15

Robin Cook and Clare Short

Question 16

What did May need to call a snap election in 2017?

Answer 16

The support of Labour to ensure the 2/3 majority in the commons required by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) 2011 for the election to take place

Question 17

As an unelected leader, why did May call a snap election?

Answer 17

To get her own personal endorsement from the voters

Question 18

What did May think she needed to push through Brexit?

Answer 18

Her own personal mandate

Question 19

What were the opinion polls going into the 2017 general election?

Answer 19

A 20% lead for the Conservatives

Question 20

In the 2017 general election what was the net loss for the Conservatives?

Answer 20

A net loss of 13 seats

Question 21

What was the centrepiece policies of the 2017 Conservative manifesto quickly dubbed, due to its unpopularity?

Answer 21

The ‘dementia tax’, a new way of funding care for older people

Question 22

What phrase that May repeated in the run up to the 2017 general election was crossed as ‘Dalek messaging’?

Answer 22

‘Strong and stable’ government