The Prime Minister And The Cabinet: The Relationship Between Prime Minister And Cabinet Flashcards
What are the institutional powers available to all occupants of No. 10?
Appointing and dismissing ministers and undertaking cabinet reshuffles
Chairing weekly meeting of the cabinet and setting the agenda
Arranging and sometimes chairing cabinet committees
Dictating policy priorities
The Cabinet Office
As party leader, usually being able to command a Commons majority to get legislation through
Issuing honours such as life peerages
What are the personal and political powers of the prime minister?
The momentum and political capital that comes from leading their party to victory in the pervious election, enable them to persuade and lead more effectively
Effective management of colleagues
Personal qualities as an effective communicator and national leader
The ability to unite and rally their own party
Skill in managing the economy and handling unexpected challenges faced in office
What are the set of powers held by the prime minister dependent on?
Opinion poll ratings
Personalities in their cabinet and party at the time
Potential leadership challenges
The strength and threat posed by the main opposition party
After taking over from Cameron, how many ministers did May remove?
15 ministers
Though patronage powers are a powerful and largely uncheck power what are some important limitations?
The prime minster needs to be careful to maintain balance within the cabinet, with diversity and policy position, as May found out with having remains and leavers in the cabinet and who and how they sack members from the cabinet as Thatcher found out with Howe’s damaging resignation speech and coalition agreements bring its own constraints on appointments
Who dictates when and where the cabinet meets and the agenda and formally chair proceedings?
The prime minister
What does the Cabinet Manuel term the cabinet?
‘The ultimate arbiter of all government policy’
What os collective reasonability?
The concept that all members of the cabinet and indeed all ministers are required to support cabinet decisions
What is an example of a prime minister not being able to persuade a cabinet member?
Tony Blair was never able to persuade his chancellor, Gordon Brown, to support the UK adopting the euro currency
By early 2021, what are the 11 main cabinet committees?
EU Exit Strategy
EU Exit Operations
Economic Operations Committee
Parliamentary Business And Legislation
National Security Council
Climate Change
Covid-19 Strategy
Domestic and Economic Strategy
Crime and Justice Task Force
Union Policy Implementation
National Space Council
What is the point of cabinet committees?
To reduce the burden on the full cabinet by allowing specific groups of ministers to take decisions on septic policy areas
How can prime ministers use cabinets to exert shier influence and political principle?
With the ability to set priorities and the agenda in the cabinet
What is the Cabinet Office?
Created in 1916 to provide support fro the cabinet system, currently 2,050 civil servants work in the department, and helped to support the prime minster and the effective running of the government
What was the Cabinet office tweaked to do by Johnson during the coronavirus pandemic?
Set up the Rapid Repose Unit to deal with misinformation about the virus
What can prime ministers award to former MPs or party supporters?
Life peerages
Who makes recommendations for non-party political peerages and vets ask party nominations in what is termed ‘property’?
An independent Appointments commissions
Under Blair and Brown how many Labour and Conservative life peerages were awarded?
173 Labour peers and 66 Conservative peers
Under Cameron and May how many Labour and Conservative life peerages were awarded?
136 Conservative peers and 59 Labour peers
What is criticised about life peerages?
Often good friends of the prime minster or party donors are awarded peerages with little to no actual effort for this award
What are some examples of a prime minster gambling on a policy and it going in their favour?
The Falklands War with Thatcher and Scottish Independence with Cameron that slowed the push for independence, though only temporally and Blair calling early election in 2001 and 2005 and winning, these all enhancing political capital
How do minister have a fair degree of autonomy over policy details?
Because they run their own departments, while adhering to commonly agreed policies
How can minister uses their political capital abasing the prime minster?
By leaking information to the media or pressure groups, for example in 2019 Gavin Williamson was sacked for allegedly leaking to the press, details from a National Security Council over the threat Huawei pose to constructing Britain’s 5G network
How can cabinet members stay in their cabinet roles even when they have poor relations with the prime minister?
They can refuse like with Jeremy Hunt in January 2018 who refused to be moved from health secretary, and after hours of talks with May ended up being given an enhanced role and adding social care to his policy portfolio
What can be seen as the biggest weapon a cabinet member has?
Resignation of their own accord, like with Howe or members of the May government
