parliamentary and executive

What are the prime minister formal roles and powers (prerogative powers)

Powers of patronage

Commit armed forces

Chairing cabinet

Leading foreign policy

Signing treaties

Calling a general election

Powers of patronage

• Powers to select ministers, their cabinet, and reshuffle them

• Involved in the process of selecting judges, appointing peers and private parliamentary secretaries

• Rishi Sunak appointed David Cameron as a lord, after his lobbying

Commit armed forces

Can commit armed forces without consulting parliament, but it is not conventional to do so

Chairing cabinet

Setting the agenda in cabinet meetings, (COBRA meetings)

Coordinate discussion, manage disagreements, guide decision makings, having the final say not having to call the vote

Under Clement Attlee, who was seen as the best leader of a cabinet government, important decisions like the NHS and nationalisation were collectively agreed upon.

Thatcher was more dominating over her cabinet, relying on a small circle

Leading foreign policy

As a chief diplomat, before Brexit, PMs would appear in EU meeting and still appear in UN meetings

Kier Starmer 1B deal with trump, and decision to not aid US in Iran

Signing treaties

David Lloyd George signing the treaty of versailles, also signed an Anglo-Irish treaty

Calling general elections

Power to call general elections when they see fit

Theresa May calling a general election when she became PM, to gain more legitimacy after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest with no real competition

Dissolution and calling of parliament act 2022

Repealed the fix terms act of 2011, meaning that PMs could once again call snap elections without a 2/3 vote in the commons

What are the PMs informal role and powers (by convention)

• Control government policy as leader of government

• Controlling the setting of legislative agenda and the policy of party they lead

• Setting economic leadership by setting policy focus

• Serving as media focus

• Leadership in times of crisis

Controlling policy as leader of government

Has the most say, and the final say in the policy the government proposes to parliament (bills)

Thatcher drove radical neo-liberal policies through parliament, easy because of her strong majority and authoritarian style.

Privatisation and weakening of unions, right to buy.

Setting economic leadership by setting policy focus

Cameron pursuing austerity as a response to the 2008 economic crisis

Serving as media focus

Boris Johnson’s dominated media focus, even if his policy was unpopular, he managed to retain some semblance of support because of eccentric perosnality

Leadership in times of crisis

Winston Churchill creating a coalition wartime government

Roles in the executive (in order of power)

The prime minister

Secretaries of State

Junior ministers

Whips

Secretaries of state

Members of cabinet responsible for different areas

Main areas:

Exchequer

Health

Home Secretary

Foreign secretary

Education

Social care

Lord chancellor

Junior minsters

Support secretaries of state but are usually not in cabinet. There are senior and junior junior ministers

Whips

Appointed by the government from MPs or Lords to make sure the party is adhering to the party line on crucial business. Defying the three line whip too many times results in being asked to resign.

Whips are not a part of policy heirarchy

Spads and their role

Specials advisors that are temporarily hired by government to advise on policy, analyse and managing relationships with figures outside parties

Civil servant definition and role

Employees of the crown who are impartial and work on developing and implementing policy for the government

Pros of Spads✅

• Do not have to remain nuetral, so provide advise based on the governing parties ideology- Dominic Cummings “take back control” campaign for BREXIT

• Provide expertise, Tony Blairs adviser on industrial policy, worked on an industrial company

• Can act as an intermediary between ministers, bridge between cabinet ministers and junior ministers

Spads cons❌

Unelected but still have a lot of influence

Overprotected, Cummings broke Covid regulation, and Johnson’s refused to sack him

Can create bubbles, like when Theresa may created her manifesto mainly using SpAds

What limits royal prerogative

• Courts regulating government action if it is deemed unlawful, like Boris Johnson proroguing Parliament🧑‍⚖

• Conventions, which if broken create controversy and media focus, Theresa May authorised air strikes in Syria without debate🚀

The four Ps where prime ministers get their power from

Party

Patronage

Parliamentary support

Popular support

Cabinet definition and its conventional role

• Typically the 25 most senior ministers make up the cabinet

• the senior decision making body of the government

• “Fastens” the legislative to the executive

Where else may PMs source influence and advice from

Make look to think tanks or lobbying groups.

• Lizz truss mainly sought inspiration from right-wing free market think tanks

IMR

Individual ministerial responsibility. Members of government (ministers) have to abide by a certain code of conduct, and if they do not do so they will be expected to resign. This maintains the image of the government as professional and trustworthy.

The Nolan code

Lays out standards for public life and is the basis for IMR

• selflessnesses

• Integrity

• Objectivity

• Accountability

• Openness

• Honest

• Leadership

Expenses scandal

Potential quibbles with IMR

• Gives validity to the belief that good politicians also have to be well behaved people in their private lives 🤔

• Gives the PM more power

• Is sometimes hard to interpret

Ron Davies IMR

Was Secretary of State for wales, was caught having an extramarital affair, which became public knowledge quickly, and so resigned. Blair wanted New Labour to appear trustworthy, not like the ‘sleazy party’

Estelle Morris IMR

Accepted responsibility for faliures in her department (education)

Is different as this relates to her acumen as a politician rather than a person, could be questionable that it was her who had to accept responsibility

CMR

Collective ministerial responsibility. All government ministers have to defend and support government decisions. If they don’t agree with government decisions they are expected to resign

Boris Johnson and David Davis resigned during BREXIT negotiations, disrupted talks as both held prominent positions and highlighted division

Robin Cook, leader of HoC resigned because of the Iraq war

Different forms that governments can take

Presidential government

Prime ministerial government

Cabinet government

Spatial leadership + example

When a PM gains exceptional authority

• strong electoral mandate

• Strong personality + popular

• Control over cabinet and large majority in parliament

Example, Thathcerism

Sofa government + example

When decisions are increasingly made in informal meetings by a PM

Tony Blair did this a lot, relying on people like Allistsir Campbell, Jonathan Powell, most notably with the Iraq war, and having a vote on it in parliament