Unit 3: the Prime Minister & the Cabinet

Question 1

Who is the current PM?

Answer 1

Keir Starmer since 2024

Question 2

What does the cabinet manual say the PM is?

Answer 2

The head of the government

Question 3

What are the key functions of the PM?

Answer 3

Appoints the cabinet and government
Chairing the cabinet - sits as the chair in cabinet meetings
Oversees all of the secretaries of state, government ministers and manages the executive
Prerogative powers
Manages relations with parliament
Represents the UK in international relations e.g. Keir Starmer meeting with president of the US and France
Political and national leadership

Question 4

Prerogative powers

Answer 4

Powers held by the monarch, PM and government ministers that are used without the consent of the House of Commons

Question 5

What is the PMs office?

Answer 5

The 190 civil servants and special advisers who work for the PM e.g. Simon Case is the PMs most senior policy adviser - Secretary of the cabinet & Sue Gray was the chief of staff until there was a scandal

Question 6

What do the PMs office do?

Answer 6

Propose legislation and policy advice
Focus on communication between departments of the government

Question 7

6 powers of the PM?

Answer 7

1. Appoints the cabinet
2. Patronage
3. Authority in the cabinet
4. Party leadership
5. Policy making
6. Public standing

Question 8

What is meant by patronage as a power of the PM?

Answer 8

-refers to the power of an individual to appoint someone to an important position
-appoints life peers - like former MPs or party supporters who made significant contributions to areas of public life - alters party balance in lords e.g. Blair appointed 162 Labour peers
-the honour system - police inquiry into cash for honours - big donors of Labour were made peers - investigation ended in 2007 with no criminal charges but changed how the PM is involved in patronage - nominations considered by an honours committee now - made up of civil servants and independents and the PM accepts the list
-no role in judicial patronage

Question 9

What is meant by appointments to the cabinet as a power of the PM?

Answer 9

-people often accepted to cabinet as a reward for loyalty but the disloyal wont be appointed even if they are the best for the job e.g. Brown appointed chancellor of exchequer as he promised to not run against Blair in the 1995 leadership contest
-PM may face constraints during the election of the cabinet e.g. 2010 Cameron-Clegg coalition appointed 5 Lib Dem to cabinet & how Blair could appoint only the shadow cabinet to his first cabinet
-there can be pressures to appoint certain people when a new leader is chosen e.g. 15 ministers including Michael Gove not appointed to Mays cabinet in 2016
-experience considered and ideological differences considered as parties that contain one type of politician may not get the full support of the party e.g. Thatcher cabinet had Thatcherites and One Nation conservatives & how new labour dominated Blair’s cabinet but the deputy PM was old labour
-cabinet reshuffles happen e.g. James Cleverly was the secretary for education, foreign secretary, Home Secretary and was minister in other departments too - these occur to appoint the most successful ministers and demote those who underachieved
-cabinet reshuffles aren’t always positive e.g. Thatchers downfall was caused by the removal of Sir Geoffrey Howe as foreign secretary in 1989

Question 10

What is meant by authority in cabinet as a power of the PM?

Answer 10

-core executive - heart of government - consists of organisations who coordinate central government activity
-chairs cabinet meetings, determines frequency of meetings, creates cabinet committees, appoints senior civil servants and manages agenda of meetings
-chair of cabinet = PM steers and sums up discussions but senior ministers can promote alternative viewpoints, PM may not give way
-PMs who are too indecisive or too dominating may weaken authority - effective PM coordinates issues to create cohesion and direction
-PM establishes cabinet committees - drive forward agenda e.g. 2016 where May established and chaired a new Economy and Industrial Strategy Committee
-agenda setting = controls info presented to ministers by determining which issues should be brought before the cabinet, deals difficult issues in bilateral meetings

Question 11

Bilateral meetings

Answer 11

Meeting between PM and department ministers

Question 12

What is meant by policy making as a power of the PM?

Answer 12

-policy making role isn’t confined to one field, they are involved in policy all over the departments
-play important role when crises occur and take an interest in economic and foreign policy
-2010 coalition limited Camerons ability to manoeuvre but he set the overall agenda e.g. deficit reduction strategy and determined responses to emerging issues like military intervention in Libya in 2011
-sets objectives, direct and coordinates policy in crucial areas but the PM needs support of senior ministers on major issues e.g. Chancellor Nigel Lawson and foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to shift government policy on the ERM in 1989 by threatening to resign

Question 13

What is meant by party leadership being a power of the PM?

Answer 13

-leads largest party in the commons
-a majority in the commons strengthens the position of the party of the government as they are better able to enact the governments programmes
-increased rebellions means PMs cannot rely on party for support and leadership is more challenging e.g. 7 labour MPs rebelled against keeping the 2 child benefit cap & conservatives rebelled on EU issues which made Cameron create the referendum
-MPs of party elect leader so makes the removal of PM less likely but this can happen through a vote of no confidence e.g. Blair and Brown survived pressures to leave office BUT Truss was removed in 2022 after a rebellion of Tory MPs forced her to quit

Question 14

What is meant by public standing being a power of the PM?

Answer 14

-they are the communicator in chief for the government - articulate policy programmes and objectives, they appear twice a year before the House of Commons Liaison committee
-public satisfaction increases strength of the PM as they have more authority than those who are seen as weak or out of touch e.g. Thatcher was a strong leader and Blair was considered a strong leader until Iraq war, Keir Starmer isn’t popular
-has a high public profile, they provide political leadership at home and represent the UK internationally e.g. Thatcher and Blair made a signicant impact on the world stage and had strong relationships with the presidents of the US (Reagan and Bush)

Question 15

Who is the cabinet?

Answer 15

They are the secretaries of state for all of the government departments

Question 16

What are some of the members of the cabinet and their departments?

Answer 16

Angela Rayner - housing and levelling up
Rachel Reeves - chancellor of the exchequer
Bridget Phillipson - education
David Lammy - foreign office
Yvette Cooper - home office
Wes Streeting - health
Ed Miliband - green energy
Louise Haigh - transport

Question 17

What is collective ministerial responsibility?

Answer 17

-The idea that the government as a whole is responsible to the parliament for its actions
-In a vote of no confidence done by all parties, if they are defeated, all of the ministers would resign
-Ministers must resign if they publicly disagree with the governments policies but can have private disagreements

Question 18

What is individual ministerial responsibility?

Answer 18

-Civil servants should be loyal to their minister
-Ministers responsible to Parliament for their own departments through question time or through select committee scrutiny
-May resign if there are issues in the government department or if they have a personal scandal

Question 19

What are exceptions to collective responsibility?

Answer 19

Formal exceptions to the collective responsibility have been agreed by the prime minister and cabinet in exceptional circumstances

The exceptions are:
1. Temporary suspension during referendums e.g. 2016 EU referendum
2. Coalition e.g. 2010 Conservative-Lib Dem coalition - Cameron-Clegg
3. Free votes on issues on conscience e.g. 2013 - same sex marriage

Question 20

2 examples of collective ministerial responsibility leading to resignation?

Answer 20

1. Robin Cook who was the former Labour foreign secretary who served from 1997 to 2001 commented on Blairs government Iraq policy and the proposal to invade Iraq in order to remove Saddam Hussein. Cook urged that Britain should work with the EU and UN and not go out on a limb with the USA. But the government made the decision to join the USA in the war due to US pressure and the close relationship with Bush.
2. Mike Crckhart and Jenny Willott were two Liberal Democrat juniors ministers who resigned in 2010 rather than support the government polico of increasing university tuition fees to £9,000

Question 21

2 examples of individual ministerial responsibility leading to resignation?

Answer 21

1. Priti Patel held meetings with Israeli officials including the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu without May’s authorisation, there were up to 12 meetings which took place on a private holiday. Patel issued a public apology but this didnt stem from the revelations about her contacts writ Israel. On 8th November, se resigned after a meeting with May.
2. Matt Hancock was published in pictures kissing with his aide Gina Goladangelo on the 25 June by the Sun. Hancock resigned the next day. His resignation was called for by the Tories, the Labour MPs and the pressure group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice. He admitted that he broke Covid social distancing guidelines. He was the secretary for health, he made the guidelines and broke them in an affair.

Question 22

Who is involved in policy making?

Answer 22

PM
Secretaries of state/cabinet ministers/senior ministers
Special Advisers
Government departments
Civil servants
Ministers

Question 23

Civil servants

Answer 23

An official employed by the Crown - they provide policy advice to ministers, they typically have experience, expertise and access to information - they ate impartial and anonymous

Question 24

Special adviser

Answer 24

A temporary political appointment made by a minister

Question 25

What was the Poll Tax? When was it introduced? By who?

Answer 25

Poll tax = the ‘Community Charge’, it was a local tax introduced by Thatcher in 1990 that was paid by all taxpayers (except some), it replaced domestic rates - based on property value and only paid by property owners

Question 26

Why was the Poll tax supported? Why was it not? What did the unpopularity lead to?

Answer 26

Those who supported it argued that if every person had to contribute towards the cost of local services through a flat rate tax, local authorities would have to provide services more efficiently

Many people found the tax unpopular as millions of voters who had never before had to pay local taxes received large bills and blamed Thatcher. It would tax the poor more than it taxed the rich - regressive - many viewed this as unfair. Warning from the Chancellor and Treasury were not given due consideration and local authorities were not consulted fully.

People responded to the poll tax through riots in London in 1990 once the tax was introduced. Councils then found the poll tax difficult to administer and collect because many people refused to pay in protest too. 100 people injured. 300 arrested. 50,000 partook.

Question 27

What happened to Thatcher after the poll tax?

Answer 27

The poll tax was a failure for Thatcher and her ministers because Thatcher pushed the proposal through government and parliament without major amendment
Then, by late 1990, a a result, many Tory MPs recognised the electoral damage Thatchers policy would have so they voted against her in the Tory leadership contest
It was replaced by the council tax under Major

Question 28

When was the Invasion of Iraq? Who was it under?

Answer 28

The Invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam and to remove the WMD happened in 2003 under Blair

Question 29

What was Blairs justification for entering Iraq?

Answer 29

Blairs justification for entering Iraq was that it was for removal of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) but these weapons were never found and intelligence reports were later discretised
Justified it based on how many people were punished by the oppression, someone had their tongue cut out and tied up
Said that if they left Iraq, it would fall under Sadam and there would be no escape from it
Said it was necessary for the US to have good relations with the UK - retreating would ruin the UN and Iraqi people

Question 30

Why was the Iraqi Invasion faced with opposition? What did this mean for Blair and his ministers?

Answer 30

After the removal of Saddam, Iraq descended into anarchy
The 2004 report by Lord Butler noted that although the cabinet was brief in Iraq on 24 occasions in the year before the invasion, minsters were denied access to key papers
He had a ‘sofa government’ where he had informal discussions without all of the ministers present as he preferred to have informal conversations - didnt allow proper debates when it came to decisions.
2016 Chilcot Report concluded that other policy options weren’t explored properly and Blair disregarded wanting about the intelligence and consequences of military action and that the cabinet had not considered legal advice carefully
Family members died for no reason - catastrophe for the country - 179 British service personnel died and over 3500 injured

There was a sharp decline in public trust of Blair and his standing in the Labour Party was damaged
Reports published that exposed the ministers and their lack of research on the consequences of the invasion - there should’ve been more informed collective ministerial discussion

Question 31

What are the two case studies on policy making?

Answer 31

1. Poll Tax 1990
2. Invasion of Iraq 2003