PM and the Executive evidence

CMR resignations

• Sunak, Chancellor 2022 under BOJO

• Robin Cook, leader of HOC 2003, under Blair about Iraq

• BOJO foreign secretary 2018 under May over Brexit and the Chequers agreement

• Iain Duncan Smith, work and Pensions secretary 2016 under Cameron about disability benefits cuts

• Sir Geoffrey Howe, Deputy PM 1990. Thatcher undermined EMU policies

• Suella Braverman 2023. Home secretary. Published an unauthorised newspaper article criticising Metropolitan Police and accusing them of bias, contradicting gov.’s position. Sunak dismissed her from Cabinet.

IMR resignations

• Amber Rudd, Home Secretary 2018 Windrush scandal. Urgent questions – Amber Rudd. Windrush scandal. Media attention. Resignation          

• Dominic Raab, Deputy PM, Justice Secretary, Lord Chancellor 2023. Bullying allegations. Sunak

• Priti Patel 2020. Bullying her civil servants accusations. BoJo. No resignation. But she did resign as secretary of State 2022  after she had secret meetings with Israeli officials

• Gavin Williamson. Secretary of State for Education during Covid-19 pandemic.  Did not resign in 2020 for his departmental failure but did resign in 2022 following allegation of personal misconduct and bullying.

• Matt Hancock 2021. Secretary of state for health and social care during Covid-19 Pandemic. CCTV footage  of breaking social distancing rules by kissing a colleague. Personal misconduct.

Resignations against starmer’s leadership

• Wes Streeting (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care): Resigned from the cabinet on 14 May 2026. Streeting broke cover to leave, declaring that Starmer can no longer lead the Labour Party into the next general election. CMR

• Jess Phillips (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding

• Zubir Ahmed (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety) CMR

• Alex Davies-Jones (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and Tackling Violence): CMR

• Miatta Fahnbulleh (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Devolution, Faith and Communities) CMR

Resingations under Starmer (not for leadership)

• Josh Simons (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in DSIT/Cabinet Office): Resigned February 2026 over controversial reports that a think tank he previously managed paid a PR firm to investigate journalists' backgrounds. IMR

• Angela Rayner (Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary): Resigned September 2025. She stood down after an independent adviser concluded that she broke the ministerial code regarding an error in paying the correct stamp duty on a property IMR

• Rushanara Ali (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness): Resigned August 2025 to prevent becoming a media distraction after reports emerged that she had evicted tenants to raise rent. IMR

• Anneliese Dodds (Minister for Development): Resigned February 2025 due to a fundamental disagreement with the government’s decision to implement cuts to the international aid budget. CMR

• Tulip Siddiq (Economic Secretary to the Treasury): Resigned January 2025 amid scrutiny regarding her family's finances and connections to political figures in Bangladesh, stepping down to avoid becoming a distraction.  IMR

• Louise Haigh (Secretary of State for Transport): Resigned early in the administration on 28 November 2024 following disclosures regarding a past criminal conviction IMR

• There have been 18 resignations under Starmer

Thatcher’s key policies

• New Right political movement

• 1983 parliamentary majority of 144

• Tight control over the government finances, avoiding excessive debt

• Successful privatisation of public utilities and industries (e.g. British Telecom, British Steel and British Airways).

• Curbing of trade union power, including a particularly acrimonious victory over the mining unions.

• Reducing direct corporate and personal taxes

• Reducing government regulation of business and finance Strengthening the rules govering who could claim welfare benefits

• Emphasis on national defence and an active foreign policy

• Strongly confronting the Soviet Union

• In the face of mounting unemployment (it reached 2 million for the first time), she was urged by Conservative critics to "U-turn" from her spending cuts agenda, but refused

• Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982. Thatcher sent a taskforce to retake the islands for the UK. A key moment in the conflict was the sinking of the General Belgrano - an Argentine ship. Thatcher personally ordered the torpedoing of the ship which was sailing away from an exclusion zone, prompting an angry response from anti-war MPs and campaigners.

• Failed introduction of the poll tax in 1990.

Thatcher’s leadership style and cabinet

• not a hugely popular prime minister when first elected

• In 1984, the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton in an attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher.

• The Falklands War (1982) showed Thatcher to be a decisive and capable leader.

• Strong central control

• used reshuffles to remove deserters - Prominent "wets" (moderates) removed or reassigned during this time included Sir Ian Gilmour, Lord Soames, Mark Carlisle, and Norman St John-Stevas. Thatcher brought in steadfast allies and loyalists, allowing her to reshape the ideological makeup of the Cabinet. Figures like Norman Tebbit and Nigel Lawson were elevated into key roles to drive the Thatcherite agenda forward

• Key ministerial resignations severely weakened Margaret Thatcher's premiership, primarily the departures of Michael Heseltine (1986), Nigel Lawson (1989), and Sir Geoffrey Howe (1990), ultimately forcing her to step down

• presidential leadership style

Blair’s key policies

• An extensive programme of constitutional reform including devolution and the Human Rights Act

• Sharp, sustained increases in expenditure on health and education

• Increased welfare benefits for those genuinely unable to support themselves

• Introducing a national minimum wage

• Introducing tax credits, mainly to reduce child poverty

• Granting independence to the Bank of England to establish more rational financial policies

• Using government financial surpluses to reduce government debt

• An active foreign policy with major interventions in the Balkans war, the Sierra Leone civil war and Iraq Pursuing closer links with Europe but resisting joining the eurozone

• Reducing business taxes to promote economic growth

• Loss of authority and popularity over handling of the Iraq War (2003).

• Further decline in support from 2005 following confirmation of his departure.

• Shift of the Labour Party to the centre by shedding socialist

  'relics' such as Clause IV (the renationalisation of industries) and embracing the private sector.

Blair’s leadership style and cabinet

• The prime ministerial dominance of the Blair era saw a charismatic leadership style supported by the largest postwar House of Commons majority ever: over 160 seats during Blair's first two terms (1997-2005) and no parliamentary defeats.

• Left wingers in Labour (e.g. Corbyn) were only a small minority so Blair had a united party

• Blair placed a strong emphasis on unified and strong government

• He appointed Jonathan Powell as 'Chief of Staff' a title borrowed from the USA (evidence of his presidential style)

• Blair increased the number of SPADs (special advisers) and created a

• 'Number 10 Machine' The Cabinet Office with the Policy Unity and Delivery

• Unity sought to drive an agenda of public service reform.

• Blair used a more informal style (Sofa Politics) with more one to one meetings with ministers (bilateral decision making). This was later criticised in a report by Lord Butler into the decision to enter the war in Iraq- which was taken by Blair without much Cabinet discussion.

• Blair saw Brown as too powerful in the party to remove which meant an important area of policy were handed to Brown. For example, Brown blocked Blair's wish to take the UK into the Single European Currency

• Often bypassed full Cabinet discussion and relied on a centralised core executive and had bilateral meetings an advisors

David Cameron

• Austerity policies in response to financial crisis (increased inequality and food bank use)

• Welfare reform, including universal credit (rollout lead to delays and hardship)

• Referendums on AV voting system, Scottish Independence and Brexit

• Military intervention in Libya and Syria

• Coalition government 2010-2015

• Heavily relied on The Quad instead of the full Cabinet

• The 2015 manifesto commitment to a referendum on

  EU membership was seen as a tactical attempt to end long-standing resentment within the Conservative Party.

  Mishandling of the referendum campaign led to defeat and resignation in June 2016.

Sunak’s key policies

• Negotiated the Windsor Framework

• Stabilised the Conservative Party after Johnson and Truss

• Immigration control (e.g. Rwanda)

Sunak’s leadership style and cabinet

• Used reshuffles to restore stability

• Brought back experienced figures, inc. Cameron as Foreign Secretary

• More collective and pragmatic leadership

Starmer’s case study

• Secured £400m investment to boost clinical trials, improving NHS services and driving growth.

• Nationalised Greater Anglia

• 6500 new teachers

• Scrapped the Rwanda scheme and launched a Border Security Command to smash the criminal smuggling gangs and improve the UK's border security

• Empahsis on collective leadership

Major

• Major took over from Thatcher in 1990.

• Won an unexpected election victory in 1992. Decisive involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process, culminating in the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed soon after Major left office.

• Significant difficulty in keeping the Conservative Party in check over attitudes to Europe (which led to his resignation and re-election as party leader in 1995). Unstable economic management led to

• 'Black Wednesday' crash. Authority diminished by repeated scandals and accusations of sleaze within the party. The slender majority of 1992 was lost well before the 1997 election.

Gordon Brown

• Gordon Brown's tenure in Number 10 was one of the shortest on record.

• Handling of the global economic recession was considered to be effective, including rescue packages for failing banks.

• Criticised for not calling an early election. Beset by multiple leadership challenges.

• Domineering leadership style was widely criticised.

• Failed to enthuse voters and was replaced by Cameron after the 2010 election.

May

• May's tenure was only marginally longer than Brown's.

• Enthusiastic early acceptance was derailed by a poor showing in the 2017 general election.

• A relentless work ethic to try and get a difficult job

• (Brexit) done.

• Catastrophic loss of majority in the 2017 general election. Widely unpopular Brexit deal for which she failed to get Commons support. Failure to connect with colleagues or inspire the wider public.