PM and executive

What is the PM’s office?

Team of support including private office, policy unit, press office and political office

What does the cabinet office do?

provides administrative support, supports collective govt by coordinating development and implementation of policies across departments

What is the ministerial hierarchy?

Secretary of state, ministers of state, parliamentary under-secretaries of state

What is GOATs?

‘Govt of all talents’ by bringing in outside expertise into the cabinet e.g. expert on international law Richard Hermer as attorney general

Cabinet govt

traditional view that power lies with the cabinet not just the PM, no PM can carry on in office without support of PM

Presidentialism

commonly used when talking about Blair and Thatcher, the idea that the PM has dominance over cabinet and parliament

Evidence for growing presidentialism

Growth of spatial leadership

Tendency towards populist outreach

Personalised election campaigns

Personal mandates

Wider use of special advisors

Strengthened cabinet office

3 main roles of the executive

proposing legislation, proposing budget and making policy decisions

How can the executive control legislation?

parliamentary timetable, majority, guillotine and time limits

Times where the executive doesn’t have control in the parliamentary timetable

20 opposition days, 13 days for private members bills, variable amount of time for debates put forward by backbench business committee

What is secondary legislation?

a law made without passing a new act of parliament, govt uses powers created by an earlier act - statutory instruments

Concerns over secondary legislation and example

Critics have raised concerns over the increasing frequent use of statutory instruments

Used by govt to sneak decisions in through the back door without proper scrutiny

In theory parl can debate and reject statutory instruments about 2/3 become laws without being put before MPs

Example of statutory instrument

2016 used to abolish maintenance grants for uni students

Example of abuse of executive power

2019 Johnson suspended parl for 5 weeks after he suffered the sixth parliamentary defeat in 6 days, argued he had prerogative powers, SC declared it was unlawful

Requirements to be PM

Must be elected MP, leader of political party, normally political party has to have majority in Commons - hung parliaments lead to coalition

What are prerogative powers?

powers from monarch transferred to PM - appoint ministers, organise govt departments, power to commit armed forces into action, decide to launch trident missiles, agree to treaties, award honours, can take action in emergency without consulting parl, grant legal pardons

Main 7 roles of PM

Political leadership, national leadership, appointing govt/cabinet, chairing cabinet, managing the executive, managing relations with parliament, representing Britain internationally

Main 9 factors affecting PM’s power

Devolution, personality and capabilities, special advisors, 24 hour news cycle, Brexit, House of Lords, party divisions, PM’s office, patronage

Examples of devolution weakening PM

Blair - after devolution SNP replaced labour as leading party in Scotland reducing Blair’s majority, Sadiq Khan - defined powers from Greater London authority act that he can personally excercise

Devolution strengthening/not affecting PM

Majority of mayors do not have a lot of power and have low voting turnout, most metro mayors are labour so help Kier Starmer

Ways personality type strengthens PM + example

engaging personality + good speeches allows PM to connect with public and gain support e.g. Blair was a good public speaker and very popular like when he called Diana the people’s princess

Ways personality can weaken PM and example

boring or unlikeable PMs gain bad press from media and cannot gain support e.g. Major nicknamed the Gray man so did not harbour support from public

Strengths and weakness of 24 hour news cycle for PM and examples

PM’s behaviour and scandals constantly reported so held responsible and can reduce public approval rates e.g. Johnson and partygate, BUT this also means PM’s positive behaviour can be reported quickly e.g. Starmer reported in a positive light in relation to his handling of America, Ukraine and Russia

Strengths + positive of Brexit for PMs and example

May - UK unstable and unsure what to come of Brexit she was unable to fix problems with Brexit so seen as weak, Johnson - ‘get brexit done’ finished negotiations showing strong abilities

Strengths and weakness of HoL on PMs and example

scrutinse PM and can criticise decisions causing bad press e.g. archbishop of canterbury calling Rwanda bill ungodly, BUT have limited power due to parliament acts and are unelected not very popular with public

How can the cabinet strengthen the PM?

A united cabinet shows the PM as a s strong leader that the public can trust e.g. Blair at the start of his premiership

How can the cabinet weaken the PM and example

a divided party + resignations undermine the PMs authority making them seem weak, the PM can not carry on in their position without support of the cabinet e.g. Johnson 2022 large amounts of his cabinet resigned e.g. Rishi Sunak and Johnson had to leave his post

Ways power of patronage strengthens the PM and example

PM can choose who is in their cabinet meaning they can be surrounded by allies while also silencing MPs who are a threat to them e.g. Starmer appointing Pat McFadden

Boris Johnson leadership style

many allies + big beast in cabinet, controlled his party - when 20 MPs disagreed with no deal Brexit he took away the whip, bad seen as having bad judgement e.g. Chris Pincher as chief whip

Johnson’s popularity

very popular at the start - united party and 80 seat majority, 2021 68% approval rate BUT his and his ministers behaviour decreased popularity e.g. partygate, Patel’s bullying, Pincher’s groping

Johnson’s use of prerogative powers

prorogue parliament, surrounded allies and brexiteers in cabinet, chaired 11 cabinet committees

Overview of the cabinet

Main decision making body of govt, members chosen by PM

What is a cabinet committee?

A smaller group of ministers that work together on specific policy areas

What is an interministerial/ad-hoc group?

a small, flexible gathering of a subset of a committee to address specific questions

What PM is known for use of ad hoc groups?

Blair and his sofa govt

7 key considerations for cabinet and examples

Allies - Pat McFadden, Big beast - Johnson in May’s cabinet, Ability - Brown making Mandelson a Lord, Different political views - may having brexiteers and non brexiteers, Political adversaries - Johnson in May’s, Socially balanced - Cameron appointing more women, Good parliamentarians

Strengths and weaknesses of Sunak’s cabinet

Strengths - core strength in cabinet so Hunt remained as Chancellor and Raab as justice sec., sacked allies of Johnson

Weaknesses - Braverman to Home office but sacked 6 days earlier due to breaking ministerial code, Gavin Williamson bully + misogynist, ministers with bad character

Strengths and weaknesses of Truss’ cabinet

Strength - allies

Weakness - left out senior politicians like Gove

Strengths and weaknesses of Johnson’s cabinet

Strengths - brexiteers as senior ministers - same views

Weaknesses -- ministers had poor behaviour e.g. Pincher

what is the ministerial code?

set of rules of conduct set by current PM

Individual ministerial responsibility convention

ministers are responsible for their own conduct and that of their department, only the PM can remove a minister due to this

Example when minister resigned due to personal conduct IMR

Amber Rudd 2018 - misled parl regarding windrush scandal + saying that there wasn’t a goal for deportations, there was but she just wasn’t aware, resigned

Example when minister didn’t resign due to personal conduct IMR

Priti Patel 2020- bullied civil servants, breached ministerial code, Johnson said she had his full support and she stayed as home secretary

Example when a minister resigned due to policy failure IMR

Estelle Morris 2002- education secretary, scandal involving inappropriate A-level grade failing, took full responsibility for policy failure

Example when minister didn’t resign due to policy failure IMR

Gavin Williamson education secretary 2020 - during COVID A-level + GCSE students given centre assessed grades modified by algorithm, led to many students not getting the grades they needed for uni, abandoned algorithm and gave grades purely based on centre assessment, remained in post while chief of ofqual resigned

Collective ministerial responsibility

members must publicly agree with policy + support PM even if they privately disagree

Three core principles of CMR

secrecy, binding decisions, confidence vote

why is CMR important?

enhances PM authority, united front, gags ministers

High profile resignation over CMR

Sunak and Javid 2022 - after criticisms of Johnson’s leadership style came to light with Chief Whip resigned over SA allegations both resigned, Sunak’s letter talked about economic policy differences, Javid’s letter talked about Johnson’s lack of integrity

Problems with CMR

minister may publicly disagree with PM but not resign making the PM look weak, CMR is suspended with PM is unable to make cabinet agree, convention not legally binding, ministers may leak info to the press

Example of a minister who broke CMR but remained

Johnson 2 years before resignation, Johnson published article in Daily Mail criticising May’s EU policy, May didn’t sack him as she didn’t want a cabinet with only 'men’

when is CMR suspended?

Coalition 2010-15, agreement to differ, free votes

CMR + coalition

lib dems in cabinet agreed to adhere to CMR except on 5 issues - electoral reform, uni tuition fees, nuclear powers, renewal of trident, tax allowance for married couples

free votes + CMR

ministers not bound to CMR, cannot be whipped, vote according to conscience e.g. 2024 Terminally ill adults (end of life) bill

What is agreement to differ?

when PM allows cabinet ministers to express disagreement in public in return for them not tendering their resignation

2 examples of agreement to differ

2016 - Cameron allowed cabinet to campaign for leaving the EU even though govts policy was to remain

2016 - May suspended CMR over plans to expand Heathrow

Ways the PM can get around cabinet

bilateral meetings, cabinet committees, SPADs

what is a bilateral meeting?

when a PM discusses policy areas with only one or two ministers

how does Starmer control cabinet committees?

he chairs five and his closest ally Pat McFadden chairs two

The Quad - coalition

cabinet committee with only four members, main forum for resolving coalition issues

how do SPADs reduce the influence of the cabinet?

PMs may listen to them more e.g. Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy May’s SPADs

arguments that presidentialism is becoming more prevalent

single executive with power concentrated with the PM, prerogative powers, media presence

how was Blair presidential?

held bilateral meetings, sofa government, Alistair Campbell controlled his media presence, when speaking to the public he focused on himself

how was Johnson presidential?

used prerogative powers to shut down parliament, loud personality and very popular, viewed as an individual, originally lots of support from cabinet

reasons the PM can be weak

weak personality, no support from cabinet, devolved bodies rival media coverage

what does the cabinet do?

legitimises govt policy, sets legislative agenda, supports PM, decides govt policy

4 reasons the cabinet is important

gives authority to govt policy, can still make key decisions e.g. 2017 snap election, some cabinet ministers hold lots of power through their status, consulted during national emergencies, PM always needs support of PM

3 reasons the cabinet is not important

meets for very little time only a rubber stamp, PM controls working of cabinet, PM can manipulate policy decision through bilateral meetings

what PM’s were brought down by their cabinet?

Thatcher, May and Johnson