the PM and the executive- essay examples

May and the effect of her minority government

She experienced 33 defeats in the HoC, more than her 5 predecessors combined

Johnson and his relationship with the people

Secured a majority of 80 MPs in the election he called due to having a good relationship with the UK public

Sources of PM power- party

• Theresa May replaced David Cameron after he resigned in 2016

• 1990 Margaret Thatcher relaced by John Major after a vote of no confidence

Sources of PM power- the people

Sunak and Truss birth ascended to the position without legitimacy from the electorate as they didn’t win a general election

Example of the executive using their power-

During covid-19 pandemic, the executive used a statutory instrument to allow them to implement health measures e.g. lockdowns without having to create and pass a new bill

Examples of patronage- Liz Truss

Removed rival, e.g. Priti Patel from her government to have tighter control

Examples of patronage- Rishi Sunak

Appointed loyalists, e.g. Jeremy Hunt in an attempt to stabilise the government.

What are the 2 examples of collective ministerial responsibility being suspended?

• Lib dem/conservative coalition- impossible for MPs from opposite parties to agree on everything

• Brexit referendum- conservative MPs were encouraged to express their individual views (caused great party divisions)

Collective ministerial responsibility and Theresa May

She told conservative ministers that they mist adhere to CMR and support the new Brexit plan, and 48 hours later, her brexit secretary (David Davis) and foreign secretary (Boris Johnson) has resigned

Individual ministerial responsibility example- Angela Rayner

She was deputy PM and minister for housing, and was considered actually representative of old labour values as she came from a working class background. She resigned as she broke the code of conduct in buying a second home on which she mistakenly paid lower tax on.

examples of ministerial resignations/removals following personal misconduct-

• 2019 Gavin Williamson sacked over a leak to press of a security council meeting

• 2010 David Lewis resigned over irregularities in his expenses claims

Factors affecting the balance of power- size of majority

• Thatcher and Blair had only 4 defeats in their respective 11 and 10 years as PM

• Callaghan’s minority government suffered 34 defeats and May suffered 33

Factors affecting the balance of power- party unity and cohesion

• conservatives united under Thatcher and labour under Blair for his first 2 terms

• deep divisions over Brexit made it impossible for May to have unity

• Johnson had a unified party after 2019

Factors affecting the balance of power- securing an electoral mandate for manifesto commitments

• Mays lack of support from her not having an electoral mandate

• Johnson had support from securing an EM

• Cameron faced opposition as the coalition didn’t secure an EM

Factors affecting the balance of power- having lots of new MPs

Having lots of new MPs mean that they are more likely to be loyal- need support e.g. Blair and Johnson (Johnson found them hard to manage, especially red wall ones that had objections about restrictive measures in constituencies). More experienced MPs become more independent and harder to control e.g. May and Major

Examples of presidential style governments

• Thatcher- compliant cabinet, iron lady image, acting as an authority that sometimes bypassed cabinet committees

• Blair- strengthened resources at the centre to control policy direction

Examples of Prime ministerial style governments-

• Johnson- centralised power and reduced the power of the cabinet focusing authority in the hands of the PM

Examples of cabinet government styles-

• Major- prioritised a collaborative style (due to a small majority), involved full cabinet to try and mend divisions over Europe

• Cameron- due to a necessity of power sharing due to coalition, deinstitutionalising power after decentralising it, using resources to implement austerity

Example of the core executive model-

• Cameron- conservative/lib dem coalition