UK - Prime Minister and Executive

Question 1

PM and Executive:

Members of the executive:

Answer 1

Executive (govt): The branch of govt responsible for implementing legislation. The executive includes the govt and the civil service, formed by the PM. Includes the PM, cabinet, all ministers, and govt depts. They are the collective decision making body for the govt.

PM: The head of the govt (but not the state - that’s the monarch).

Cabinet: The formal committee of 22-26 leading govt members, including heads of govt departments - led by the PM. “The ultimate arbiters of all govt policy”.

Cabinet Committees: A group of ministers concerning a policy area, that make decisions binding to the whole govt, to reduce the burden on the rest of the cabinet that are unrelated to these decisions. They can be chaired by the PM if they deem it relevant or necessary. (Used for COVID).

Govt Departments: Headed by a Sec of State/Senior Minister. Supported by the Civil Service that have a permanent role within the dept. They also have junior ministers involved.

Executive agencies: Semi-independent bodies that carry out some of the functions of govt departments e.g. DVLA is overseen by the Dept of Transport.

Kitchen Cabinet: An informal group of advisors consulted by the PM, which may include some cabinet members and individuals outside of the cabinet. They are seen as unduly influential (as they are mostly unelected - Cummings, Carie Simmons, etc).

Core executive: The informal network of individuals and groups who are involved with policy making. Who are part of the core executive depends on the PM, but it is normally the PM themselves, the cabinet, senior officials from govt departments, intelligence services, key MPs (mainly whips and senior MPs) and policy advisors.

Junior Ministers: This includes Under-Secretaries and Ministers of State. They are Ministers in govt, that are not part of the Cabinet. They serve as a senior members (deputy) to the secretary in cabinet. E.g. Mike Freer as Under-Secretary of exports and equalities.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries: MPs that work closely with a minister, or a junior minister in their civil service office, assisting them with policy and affairs. This is an unpaid role, but MPs do it to gain experience working in govt. A senior minister may have 5 PPS, and a junior 3.

Question 2

PM and Executive:

Main functions on the Executive:

Answer 2

Main functions of the exec:

1. To propose legislation: most legislation that is put to parliament comes from the govt (primary legislation), first through the cabinet, often based on manifesto promises or political events/issues at the time.
2. To propose a budget: this is done by the chancellor, following negotiations with other departments and the cabinet. The budget is then discussed in the Treasury Committee, and then put to a vote in the Commons after extensive debates and amendments. The Lords don’t have a say in this due to the Parliament Acts 1911/1949.
3. To make policy decisions: the cabinet sets out the legislative and policy dicisions and direction of govt. Ministers will base decisions on this and will publicly support govt policy. The administrative exec is responsible for its implementation.

Question 3

PM and Executive:

Executive Powers:

Answer 3

• The executive generally has control of the legislative agenda, as the majority of legislative time is spent considering govt bills which are usually likely to become laws due to their Commons majority.
  
  • The Executive also has power of ‘secondary legislation’, where ministers are granted specific powers under laws passed by parliament, including making the guidelines and regulations and the approval of projects and actions. This secondary legislation is added onto bills after it has been passed by the Commons as amendments ‘to help the law be enforced and practically operational in daily UK life’.
  • EX: Sometimes, the Secretaries can go overboard, like Priti Patel adding 14 pages of SI to the Nationalities and Borders Bill 2021, with the Lords delaying it and initiating Parliamentary Ping Pong.

Question 4

PM and Executive:

The PM:

Answer 4

The PM:

• The PM is appointed by the Queen (so it in theory could be anyone), but in practice, it is always the MP that is leader of the largest party in the Commons.
  
  • Sometimes PMs become PMs not through a general election, but through an internal party leadership election. This is mainly when PMs resign (e.g: Brown after Blair, or May after Cameron). The election is among the official party members - (LAB has around 500k, CON has around 200k, SNP 130k, Lib Dem 120k, Greens 50k).
  • Sometimes party leaders become PMs without an overall majority in the Commons (this is called a hung parliament/minority govt), although they are still the largest party in the chamber. E.g: May 2017 or Cameron 2010. This is usually solved by a coalition with other parties (2010), or a confidence and supply agreement (2017 with DUP).

The PM has the following roles:

• To appoint govt ministers to the cabinet.
• To direct and influence govt policy - this includes all areas of policy, but is usually focused on the main areas of economics and foreign policy.
• To manage the cabinet, for example by deciding when and how long to meet for and setting the agenda for discussion.
• To organise the govt, for example govt departments and how they are set up (creating new ones, abolishing others, directing their goals, etc).
• To control Parliament (by having a majority in the Commons).
• To provide leadership, for example in response to events (e.g. terrorism, wars, pandemics, etc).
• Their role has grown and developed over time as there is no codified constitution setting out their ‘official’ role and significance:
  
  • In theory, the PM is ‘first among equals’ as they have an equal say in cabinet policy discussions, but they are the primary representatives of govt.
  • In practice, modern PMs can be argued to be more significant than this - maybe resembling US Presidents in terms of power and influence.
  • EX: This can be seen in the examples of Thatcher and Blair, who only really used their cabinets as formularities, and really acted presidentially. This also applies to their campaign styles.
    
    • Blair was responsible to wide-reaching change in terms of the constitutional reforms. He was able to do a lot due to his public popularity and huge commons majority.
    • Thatcher was also the same, with a large commons majority, but she was much more strict and cut-throat with her cabinets and ruled with an iron fist (the ‘wets’ and dries’).

Question 5

PM and Executive:

PM powers:

Answer 5

• The PM’s formal powers are derived from the Monarch’s Royal Prerogative, which is no longer used by the Monarch but by the executive:
  
  • The PM can appoint ministers and senior figures - such as ambassadors, judges (on the advice of independent bodies), committee chairs, etc.
    
    • EX: John Major appointing Micheal Heseltine (biggest rival) as Deputy PM and later Home Sec.
    • EX: Blair appointing Brown as Chancellor after the BB deal.
    • EX: May appointing Boris to Foreign Sec as a major part of the Brexit campaign (good rep to negotiate with the EU).
  • The power of dismissal (re-shuffles and firings)
    
    • EX: Johnson getting rid of Mays cabinet of retainers and replacing them with economic right-wingers and hard-line Brexitiers (Priti Patel, Gove, etc).
  • Power to allocate portfolios (allocations of ministers to different posts)
    
    • EX: Boris re-allocating Raab after his mismanagement as Foreign Sec over Afghanistan to justice sec and deputy PM, as he was popular with public and close to the PM, and Boris didn’t want to sack him completely.
    • EX: Blair only appointed loyalists (David Milliband).
  • Control of ministerial discussions (arranging the cabinet)
  • Control of info (ultimate access to UK intelligence).
  • Can dissolve and recall parliament (which has been eroded by the FTPA 2011).
  • Signing of treaties.
  • Granting of honours (knighthoods, OBEs, etc).
  • International diplomacy (relations/recognition of other states).
  • Deployment of armed forces overseas (now there is a convention that parl votes on it after Iraq).
  • The granting of pardons.
• In practice, the PM has considerably more powers (‘informal powers’):
  
  • Patronage: the ability to hire and fire govt ministers.
  • Control over the cabinet (the PM decides when and how long the cabinet meets for, the agenda for discussion, and who sits on cabinet committees).
  • Control over the legislative agenda.
  • Secondary legislation.
  • Answering PMQs
  • Being the nation’s representative and communicator.
  • Party leadership: the PM leads their party and so has authority over it.
  • PM and cabinet office: these provide institutional support to the PM including ‘SPADs’
  • Control and organisation of the civil service.
  • Media access: as head of govt, the PM gets considerable media exposure. The media treat the PM as the ‘face of govt’ and focus on them by scrutiny.

Question 6

PM and Executive:

Cabinet:

Answer 6

The cabinet meet every Thursday morning, usually for less than 2 hours. There is a hierarch of importance within the cabinet - the most important posts being chancellor, foreign secretary, Home Secretary and deputy PM.

Their decisions are binding for all members of the govt. There are also cabinet committees, that are groups of ministers making decisions for the whole govt, based on their policy areas (created by Cameron, and ended by Boris - although Boris created temporary ones for COVID).

The Cabinet has these roles:

• Approving policy: even though policy is usually more meaningfully discussed elsewhere in the exec first
• Coordinating policy: making all ministers aware of policy decision and progress in all govt departments.
• Resolving disputes and disagreements between ministers, if necessary.
• Debating and discussing issues.
• Legitimiser of govt decisions
• Determines the timetabling of bills and ministerial statements in the HoC
• Crisis management body
• Final court of appeal for disagreements
• Considering the views of the party MPs (parliamentary party).
• Promoting collective responsibility.

Ministers oversee the work, and run, various govt departments:

• They work with civil servants, who are not in the cabinet.
• Secretaries of State are the most senior ministers, followed by ministers of state (not in cabinet, junior ministers), then parliamentary under Secretaries, (junior ministers, not in cabinet) and then parliamentary private secretaries (unpaid).
• Civil servants work with ministers to implement govt policy.
  
  • They are permanent, neutral and anonymous.
  • In practice there were concerns in the past that the civil service had too much power and that ministers would only make a few policy decisions alone, and mainly relied heavily on the civil service for advice and info.
  • Also they were thought to be politically biased in favour of the Tories.
  • Efforts have been made to provide Ministers with alternative sources of info, for example independent advisors and think-tanks.
  • Now argued that the civil service has too little power!

Executive agencies also exist:

• They carry out some functions of govt departments e.g. The DVLA carries out a function of running driving tests and providing licenses for the Dept of Transport, or the Prison service, or the coastguard, or the ONS.

Cabinet members are appointed because:

• Diversity reasons (current is the most diverse)
• Big beasts (public popularity and major party figures)
• Allies to help advance policies (Blair and David Milliband).
• Enemies (to bind them to CMR) - May and Boris
• Balancing party views (Remain and Leave in May’s cabinet).

Question 7

PM and Executive:

Individual Ministerial Responsibility (IMR):

Answer 7

IMR means that ministers are accountable to parliament for the actions of their departments - this includes all failures and mistakes that they should have been aware of - for both policy and administration.

IMR also means that ministers are individually responsible to the PM for their personal conduct (irrespective of their dept performance).

The principles of IMR are however not set in stone, which makes them debatable in their application. Decentralisation of policy also makes it harder to apply IMR.

Administrative Failures:

• These are rarely causes for resignation, mostly because civil servants and others can be blamed instead:
  
  • EX of failure resulting in a resignation:
    
    • 1954 Sir Anthony Douglas resigned after Crichel Down Affair, due to an admin failure of civil servants within the Ministry of Agriculture.
    • 2019 Gavin Williamson was fired by May after he leaked classified national security info to Huawei, and refused he did so on live TV.
  • EX of failures not resulting in a resignation:
    
    • 1996 Arms-to-Iraq: govt endorsed sales of British arms to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. This was part of the Major govt sleaze scandals, and contributed to Blair’s landslide win, and led Blair to codifying the Ministerial Code as this was seen as a huge failure of IMR.
    • 2000 BSE (mad cow disease crisis), led to 178 deaths and a ban on British beef exports of a decade. No one in the Ministry of health, or imports, or agriculture, etc resigned.
    • 2018 Windrush Scandal. Amber Rudd did not formally resign due to he mismanagement of the admin that created the scandal, but instead over her misleading of MPs over evidence in HoC (so policy failure).

Policy Failures:

• Relates to the failure of entire policies or executive decisions, rather than mistakes in their implementation:
  
  • EX of failures resulting in resignations:
    
    • Foreign secretary Lord Carrington resigned in 1982 after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.
    • Chancellor James Callaghan resigned in 1967 after the sterling was devalued to try and decrease a deficit, but it failed.
    • Education Sec Estelle Morris 2002 A-Level grade-fixing scandal, failing many top students due to the new A/S level system.
    • Home Sec Amber Rudd 2018 after misleading HoC on the Windrush Migrant removals targets.
  • EX of failures not resulting in resignations:
    
    • 1982 Defence Sec John Not remained in place after the Falkland Invasion as Thatcher refused to accept his resignation, as he actually won the war.
    • Chanellor Norman Lamont in 1992 didn’t resign after Black Wednesday: his rhetoric was that his policy was the same as that of the PM, so if the PM dent resign neither should he.
    • Gavin Williamson remained after 2020 A-Level Grade Scandal.

Personal Misconduct:

• Ministers are also expected to follow the ‘seven principles of public life’ set out by the 1995 Nolan Commission (selflessness, integrity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership). This is increasingly amplified due to the role of the media.
  
  • EX of failures resulting in resignations:
    
    • 1961 John Profumo resigned after a sex scandal.
    • Energy Sec Chris Huhne 2012 colluded with ex-wife so she took responsibility over his speeding offence.
    • Defence Sec Michael Fallon 2017 for behaviour towards women in the armed forces.
    • Overseas Development Sec Priti Patel 2017 for holding unofficial private meetings with Israeli Ministers.
    • Hancock in 2021 after breaking own COVID rules.
  • EX of failures not resulting in resignations:
    
    • Home Sec Priti Patel bulling scandal 2020.

Question 8

PM and Executive:

Collective Ministerial Responsibility (CMR):

Answer 8

CMR means that ministers must support cabinet decisions or otherwise resign from govt. It has 3 main principles:

1. Secrecy: Ministers must keep all cabinet discussions secret (from outsiders).
2. Binding decisions: All decisions reached in the cabinet are binding for all ministers, regardless of whether they agree or not, or even whether they were aware of the decision being take at all. Those unable to support a cabinet decision should publicly resign. (EX: Johnson and Davis resigned over disagreement with May’s Brexit deal).
3. Confidence vote: if the govt is defeated in a vote of no confidence, the entire cabinet must resign (Callaghan’s govt in 1979).

Even if the cabinet is meant to act as a collective body, there are plenty of reasons for disagreements between minsters:

• Each minster heads different govt depts so they may have opposed or conflicting ideas/needs.
• Money and influence are scarce - ministers must compete for these for their own depts.
• Power and resources given to govt depts can mean temptation to forget CMR and instead act as independent bodies.
• Personal opinions and ambitions may differ.

CMR suspensions:

• 2010 LibDem-CON coalition meant that ministers belonged to different parties with different manifestos.
  
  • CMR only applied to areas covered by the Coalition Agreements, which didn’t include:
    
    • Trident renewal and new nuclear power stations.
    • Tax allowances for married couples.
    • Higher education funding.
    • AV Referendum 2011.
  • CMR wasn’t respected in some other occasions, such as when Cameron defended military responses to Assad’s use of Chemical weapons, but Clegg opposed it.

Other suspensions of CMR:

• 1975 EEC/EU referendum:
  
  • Wilson suspended CMR on this issue and ministers campaigned in opposing sides.
  • Tony Benn and Roy Jenkins held a famously harsh debate on TV (Benn against the ‘capitalist club’).
• 2016 Brexit Referendum:
  
  • Cameron suspended CMR over the Brexit referendum, allowing minsters such as Michael Gove or Chris Grayling to oppose PM’s official remain positions.
• 2019 EU negotiations: not suspended just ministers defied it and faced no consequences.
  
  • Boris as Foreign Sec, openly criticised May’s Brexit plans.
  • March 2019, 3 of May’s ministers declared they would defy CMR over a no-deal Brexit vote.
  • 13 Ministers abstained in a vote to reject a no-deal Brexit under any circumstance in March 2019, defying party whips.

Other challenges to CMR:

• Leaks: ministers may leak cabinet discussions to the media to exercise pressure on the gov or other ministers as a means of creating pressure without dissatisfaction publicly, and needing to resign (EX: John Redwood was highly suspected of doing this towards the end of Thatcher’s premiership).
• Dissent and non-resignations: CMR can be quite elastic, in that often ministers express their dissatisfactions with gov policy without having to resign (e.g. Boris/Davis under May many times).
  
  • EX: Also Clare Short in 2003 was allowed to stay in cabinet despite her opposition to the Iraq War.
• Prime-Ministerial Dominance: some PMs can be seen as having undermined CMR by ignoring the cabinet (e.g. Blair/Thatcher).

Resignations due to CMR:

• Michael Heseltine, Thatcher’s Defence Sec resigned during cabinet meeting in 1986 due to the ‘Westland Affair’.
• Robin Cook resigned in 2003 the day before Parliament was to vote on Blair’s decision to invade Iraq.
• Iain Duncan-Smith, Sec of State for Work and Pensions resigned in 2016 following cuts to disability benefits.
• David Davis (Brexit Sec), and Boris (Foreign Sec) resigned after May’s proposed Brexit deal 2019.