PM and the Executive evidence

Who could not follow CMR when in May’s cabinet, why?

Even when BJ was in Mays cabinet and supposedly bound by IMR he still penned many critical articles about her leadership for the daily telegraph

How many cabinet resignations did May have

11

Who did BJ replace after they were outspoken against a no deal Brexit

In 2020, BJ replaced the NI secretary Julian Smith with Brandon Lewis during a cabinet reshuffle after he was outspoken against a no deal Brexit

An example of a remainer and Brexiteer in May’s split cabinet

• Phil Hammond (remainer)

• David Davis (Brexiteer)

Big Beast Examples

• Johnson in May’s Cabinet

• Miliband in Starmer’s Cabinet

Examples (2) of when ministers have been appointed for experience

• Jeremy hunt (replaced Kwarteng and was kept on by Sunak)

• Ben Wallace (secretary of state for defence under Johnson, Truss & Sunak)

Examples (2) of when ideology has been placed before experience in choosing ministers

• Chris Grayling → Nicknamed ‘Failing Grayling’ (He granted a ferry contract to a company with no ferries

• Kwarteng and Cleverly under Truss → were the least experienced in modern history, with an average of 17 months of ministerial experience

Examples where representation has been considered when choosing ministers

• Blair appointed the 1st female foreign secretary

• Truss had the most diverse cabinet in history

Examples where representation has not been considered when choosing ministers

• There were only 4 women in the first coalition cabinet

• there are only 3 ethnic minority MPs in Starmer’s Cabinet → David Lammy is the only Black Minister

Who resigned after misleading parliament, when?

Amber Rudd Resigned after misleading the HOC on deportation targets in 2018

Who recently resigned due to IMR

Angela Rayner resigned due to IMR after a mistake of under payment of stamp duty → maintained integrity by going through the proper process and left without a fight

Examples where ministers have ignored ministerial responsibility

• Chris Grayling did not resign after Ferry or transport scandal

• 2020 Priti Patel blamed the civil service after the Bullying scandal, saying that she was not aware of the issue

• In the 2025 autumn budget, Reeves was accused of misleading parliament and the public over the state of the economy, she would not accept this mistake

How many resignations did Johnson have

62 → many over scandals i.e. Hancock + as protest = led to resignation

Resignations under Starmer

Saw 7 resignations in the first 1 & ½ years

Examples (2) of when the PM haven’t forced a minister to resign after scandal

• May backed Priti Patel after she apologised over secret unauthorised meetings with Israeli politicians

• BJ backed Gavin Williamson over the Covid Grading scandal in 2020

When did who abstain from a vote to rule out a no deal brexit despite the whip?

in 2019, 13 conservative front benchers abstained to rule out a no deal Brexit despite there being a 3 line whip

an example of clashes between ministers in May’s cabinet

in 2018-19, the Chancellor Hammond and the Brexit Secretary Davis publicly challenged each other but neither resigned

who in Starmer’s cabinet resigned over tenant issues, why?

The Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali resigned over tenant issues → stepped down to avoid ‘becoming an issue’

When did who refuse to resign in May’s Cabinet, why?

In 2019, Gavin Williamson refused to step down as defence secretary after may believed that he was the source of a leak from a national security council meeting

Example of a minister ‘not going quietly’

Braverman resigned in 2022, saying she had concerns over the direction of government

How many SPADs were there in 2014

104

Who triggered Thatchers downfall

Sir Geoffrey Howe

How big was Johnson’s majority in 2019

80 seat majority meant MPs were quick to back his Brexit legislation, unlike May’s

What is Starmer’s popularity, what has it encouraged?

Is the lowest PM in the Polls, encouraged 3 U turns

Who did Truss replace as chancellor? Who took over

Truss replaced Nadim Zahawi from Johnson’s cabinet with Kwasi Kwarteng as he aligned more with her neoliberal values

What is an example of an MP supporting the conservative PM under CMR despite having private criticisms

Sunak as chancellor under BJ was supportive publicly of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a key part of BJ’s brexit deal. but when he became PM, he was critical of the protocol and scrapped it

Recent example of a minister supporting the PM under CMR

Miliband has been said to have privately criticized the PM for scaling back his green protocols, but in the public eye, he has been largely supportive & called on other ministers to ‘remain united’

An example of a Big Beast having an impact on policy

Brown in Blair’s cabinet, he stopped Blair from joining the European single currency

When has CMR been ignored and undermined Starmer’s cabinet unity

2026, Streeting had many leeksthat criticized the govt before he resigned

Use of smaller meetings to dominate the cabinet

Blair’s Sofa style politics or Cameron’s Quad of ministers

How many SPADs were there in 2025

150

Example of a SPAD having more influence then the cabinet

Dominic Cummings during BJs premiership

Example of a minister that controls a department

Heidi Alexander is the minister for transport

When was a divided cabinet/ small majority govt used to diminish PM power

BJ was able to push May for a harder Brexit deal as he had a counter power balance

Who was able to use the media to gain personal popularity

Blair, was able to court the RW press and held a successful media campaign, where it was his image that largely won labour their success

Why did Starmer’s cabinet control diminish

He became largely unpopular both with the public and backbench mps after the Mandelson scandal and the devestating council loss

Example of a recent (2025) cabinet resignation under CMR that may have influenced policy

2025, Vicky Foxcroft resigned under CMR as she disagreed with the govts welfare plans → may have encouraged the govts u-turn on the two child benefit cap

When was CMR relaxed

in 2016, before the brexit referendum

When and who resigned under IMR after department failings

2002, Estelle Morris resigned as secretary of state for education and skills as her department failed to meet the literacy and numeracy targets that they set

Recent example of a minister refusing to resign under IMR and instead shifting the blane

Starmer refused to resign over possibly misleading parliament on Mandelson, instead, the blame was put on civil servants

When has a PM had low standards that has weakened IMR

2022 after the party gate scandal, BJ and ministers refused to resign and BJ actually revised the ministerial code, weakening it so that ministers only had to apologise rather than resign

Who did not resign over breaking housing codes

Reeves, she was backed by Starmer