The powers of the Prime Minister and the cabinet

How does Parliament contribute to the power of the PM?

Labour will nearly always have a majority in Parliament, so the PM will be strenghthened. More generally, the Government can be dismissed with a vote of no confidence and can vote against the budget.

What happens if the PM has a lack of Parliamentary majority? (Theresa May)

May had to convince 10 DUP MPs to support the Conservative in the budget and the vote of no confidence, in confidence-and-supply agreement. However, they don’t even go to the House of Commons anyway. Lead to a very weak Government as she struggled to pass legislation, especially hindering Brexit laws.

Example to illustrate the importance of special advisors over the Prime Minister

Dominic Cummings played a central role in policy decisions during Johnson’s premiership, including the handling of the Covid - 19 pandemic, which affected the whole of the UK. Although he faced scrutiny for his controversial methods, he had a huge influence over the PM.

Example to illustrate how a party can limit the power of the PM

Boris Johnson faced heavy amounts of criticism from his Conservative MPs over his organisation of parties held at Downing Street in the Covid - 19 pandemic. This was further exacerbated by the media calling it “party gate”, which incentivised people to submit letters of no confidence, and many members of his Cabinet resigned. This tainted his power significantly, as before, he had a 78 seat majority, showing the importance of a party on the power of a PM.

Best example to illustrate that a Prime Minister with a large majority can still be limited in their power

Liz Truss inherited Johnson’s 78 seat majority. However, she only lasted 49 days in office as she sent economics spiralling in her mini - budget. She was forced to resign by her party, after the economic chaos she caused.

Best example to illustrate that decision - making of the Government can still take place in cabinet

In Covid 19, the Cabinet played a crucial role in shaping the Government decisions in response to the crisis. eg. national lockdowns were discussed and approved by Cabinet with input from Health Secretary and Chancellor. This shows the importance of Cabinet ministers in times of crisis, as it wasn’t efficient to consult Parliament on every issue. Also, the ministers with more experience in some aspects eg. Health, can give vital advice to the PM

Best example to illustrate that the PM has power over the cabinet in taking decisions

Margaret Thatcher was known as the “Iron Lady”, a very forceful, and authoritative leader, who dominated over her Cabinet in decision making. She called her opposition in Cabinets “wets” who opposed her economic policies on privatisation.

What is a “prime ministerial Government”?

The Prime Ministers were expected to dominate Government completely

What are the key elements of the executive in the UK?

The PM, the Cabinet, junior ministers, the civil service

Who are the junior ministers?

Members of the executive who assist the senior minister in the running and policy decisions of a government department. eg. the Education Secretary will usually have three junior ministers, each one taking responsibility for an aspect of education policy

Who are the civil service?

Permanent officials who carry out the day-to-day running of government departments. Their job is to advise the ministers and enact policy decisions made by ministers.

What is the synoptic link between the PM and the use of the royal prerogative?

The role of the Prime Minister and the use of the royal prerogative has developed by constitutional convention

What are the main roles of the executive?

Proposing legislation, proposing a budget and making policy decisions within laws and the Budget

A role: Proposing a budget

The executive have to calculate how much money it will need to run the country and carry out its proposed policies. The spending amounts will be allocated to the various government departments so that they can carry out their work.

A role: Making policy decisions within the laws and the budget

They need to decide how to enact or enforce legislation and make changes to government spending. The executive must decide how to enact the clauses of legislation in reality. This is sometimes referred to as secondary legislation where parts of an Act are amended or adapted to make them more workable in the real world.

The traditional authority of the PM

They are delegated prerogative powers from the monarch. As the PM is representing the whole nation, the PM is effectively the temporary head of state. Authority that is considered legitimate because it has existed for a long historical period.

What are prerogative powers?

powers held by the Monarch or by Government ministers that may be used without the consent of the Commons or Lords. eg. Appointing and dismissing ministers and deploying the armed forces.

What are patronage powers?

The power an individual may enjoy to make important appointments to public offices. This ensures loyalty as they are scared of dismissal.

What are the informal powers of the PM?

Controlling and setting government policy, controlling and setting the legislative agenda, economic leadership, media focus and platform, national leadership in times of crisis

An example in 2020 when the PM exercised prerogative powers?

Boris Johnson signed the EU “divorce" treaty” to formally break the ties between the EU and the UK and begin the transition period

What is the cabinet sometimes described as? (in a bad way)

They are seen as a mere “rubber stamp” that simply confirm the decisions that have already been made by the Prime Minister.

How many times does the cabinet meet a week?

once

Definition of a cabinet government?

A situation where the main decision - making of government takes place in Cabinet.

What is the downing street machine?

The various advisors, policy units and senior civil servants who work directly with the prime minister to make strategic decisions before presenting them to Parliament or Cabinet

An example of when the resignations of members of the Cabinet were highly damaging to the PM

11 cabinet ministers resigned from May’s cabinet over an 18-month period. Most notably, Chris Heaton - Harris who was the Parliamentary Under - secretary of state for exiting the EU resigned in April in opposition to May’s approach to Brexit. He was meant to be in charge of protecting the Brexit deal

Example of Cabinet committees

Cameron set up 10 Cabinet committees in May 2010. Key decisions were made by the core group called the “quad” made up of Cameron, Clegg, Osbourne and Danny Alexander. This committee decided "all major matters of policy" and resolved disputes between the two parties.

The powers of the PM in the Cabinet

Prime Ministers see all proposals in advance and have the opportunity to block policies of which they do not approve. They control the Cabinet agenda so they can simply avoid discussion of ideas they do not like.T

The power of the Cabinet to overrule government policy

If they can summon up sufficient support for an alternative policy, the Cabinet can overrule the Prime Minister. In 2015, for example, PM David Cameron was forced by his Cabinet to suspend collective responsibility in the EU referendum campaign to allow ministers to express their personal views. Michael Gove and Boris Johnson both supported the Leave Campaign, and they won, undermining Cameron.

Example of when the PM set the legislative agenda

Theresa May kept a vote on “no deal” Brexit off the agenda, so key oppositions in cabinet could not oppose

Comparison of the use of SPADS between Major and Blair

Major used 8 and Blair used 30

The impact of SPADS on the cabinet

Sajid Javid decided to resign as chancellor rather than accept that all his special advisors would have to go, replaced by a joint No 10 Treasury team. This was proposed by cummings. The PM uses SPADs to consolidate and facilitate their new legislative ideas and the PM has less reliance on the Cabinet

What did Johnson call his good members of the Cabinet?

Boris Johnson has established a Cabinet of loyalists in a style similar to Thatcher post 1983

Example of when the cabinet was used in crisis?

In COVID 19, many ministers played key roles in developing policies to deal with the national pandemic. For example, Hancock the former Health Secretary was vital due to holding the governments daily press briefings.