politics review - pm and executive

boris johnson and the powers of the prime minister - what can we learn from recent events

55 resignations in 48 hours 2022. used charm and humour to win over the red wall. he made few attempts to include broad sections of his party in cabinet, and was supportive of ministers who came under pressure from the media to resign. cut the number of cabinet committees. failed attempt to prorogue parliament. criticised for his slow response to covid. sidelined cabinet during covid. built close relationship with zelensky and became seen as one of ukraine’s strongest supporters. was fined for partygate. 41% conservatives voted against him in 2022 confidence vote. lost wakefield to labour and tiverton and homerton to lib dems, leading to oliver downden’s resignation as chairman. forced to resign by his cabinet

britain’s good chap model of government is coming apart

2018 conservative government pulled theresa may’s brexit deal instead of holding a vote on it to prevent losing the vote. britain’s constitution allows sneak manoeuvres like this and relies on the notion that politicians know where the unwritten lines of the constitution lie. during may’s minority, government boycotted motions on opposition days that they could lose e.g. 2017 ignored a vote to pause the roll-out of universal credit.

british prime ministers: power and success

top talent - may made unfortunate appointments, including a chancellor she regularly locked horns with.

personal qualities - cameron was always on top of his brief but sometimes took decisions too quickly. johnson had a clear vision to take britain out of the eu

leadership in opposition - lack of experience as leader of the opposition was a handicap for major, brown and may. blair came to tenure after labour had spent 18 years in opposition, meaning his top cabinet members had no previous senior cabinet experience. cameron came after 13 years in opposition.

elections and majorities - blair 179 1997, johnson 80 2019

media - major ridiculed by spitting image as dull. blair and johnson used the media effectively

economy - major 1992 suffered troubled economy which prevented him from enacting policy. brown able to turn the 2008 crisis to his benefit by his skilful handling of international leaders, such as the G20 summit in london 2009.

luck and timing - thatcher in power as cold war was ending and could play a key mediating role between reagan and gorbichev. thatcher had weak opposition leader (michael foot), and so did blair (hague and ian duncan smith). blair was strong opposition to major. brown faced difficulty purely due to the time he rose to power

case study: liz truss

lasted 44 days as pm. chosen by 98 000 party members - questions around the legitimacy of her mandate, undemocratic and unrepresentative. reshuffled cabinet using her powers of patronage and appointed loyal supporters. embarked on trussonomics, announcing a mini-budget within 3 weeks. swift downfall shows the limitations of adopting such a quasi-presidential style of leadership. she alienated her own party and made it easier for big names like gove to speak out against her. the bank of england was forced to step in to calm the markets. she sacked chancellor kwarteng and made a u-turn on her budget. her home secretary then resigned and 31 conservative mps abstained from a vote on fracking. she resigned 20th october