evidence for pm and executive essay

how many people sacked and promoted by Cameron in 2014 cabinet reshuffle

5 members sacked, 3 promoted/demoted including Leave supporter Micheal Gove being replaced by Remainer Nicky Morgan and the promotion of Remainer Micheal Fallon to defence secretary

Thatcher cabinet reshuffle in 1983

replaced many ‘wets’ with ‘drys’ in order to support her ideological stance and push through policy such as banning secondary strikes from trade unions (she started to make decisions with a small group of advisers who shared her political beliefs), all key economic posts held by ‘drys’

May’s frontbenchers in March 2019

12 frontbenchers (including 4 cabinet members such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis) abstained from ruling out a no-deal Brexit

divisions leading to 2011 AV referendum

divisions within the coalition saw Cameron (PM) campaign for No and Clegg (deputy PM) campaign for Yes

Major Maastricht Treaty 1990-1997

he had a cabinet full of Eurosceptics which disrupted the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty

Brown divided party 2007

he had a party of Brownites and Blairites meaning there was a lack of unity

Blair’s defeats in the Commons from 1997-2005

no defeats due to his 179 seat majority

Blair’s majority made him see them as…

insignificant, he had a sofa government where he did not feel the need to consult them on issues such as the Iraq War 2003

Johnson’s majority and Brexit

after Johnson won an 80 seat majority in 2019 his cabinet were quick to support the EU Withdrawal Agreement despite refusing to do so for May when she tried to get it through government for 2 years

Thatcher forced to resign

after Micheal Heseltine challenged her for leadership of the party, her cabinet colleagues convinced her she had little chance of winning so she was forced to resign

Jim Callaghan 1979

lost a vote of confidence

Johnson forced resignation

after seeming invincible at the start of 2020, Johnson’s poor handling of the COVID 19 pandemic and the media focus on Partygate lead to him being forced to resign, his popularity plummeted

coalition one of the most rebellious in history because…

it was difficult to balance both wings of Parliament and encourage either party to support policies to which they were ideologically opposed

Major SPADs vs Blair SPADs

Major had 8, while Blair eventually had 50; Blair was also the first PM to give senior advisers formal control over civil servants

Cameron and Clegg SPADs

107 (despite the coalition reducing the number)

Andy Coulson top adviser downfall

he was Cameron’s communications director during the phone hacking scandal, he denied any involvement in hacking but resigned due to mounting pressure but was eventually found guilty of phone hacking and went to prison in 2014

Cameron lost key vote

due to a very small majority Cameron had to make a number of adjustments in order to keep both wings of his party happy, despite this he lost a key vote on Sunday Trading in 2016

Alistair Campbell top SPAD resignations

resigned from the Blair government after the death of Dr David Kelly after being involved in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003

Cleggmania 2007

Clegg’s appearance in some of the first televised debates saw the rise of Cleggmania to see him gain 43% of popular support in comparison to Cameron’s 26%, this aided him in becoming deputy pm

publication of ‘Get Brexit Done’

the media focus on ‘Get Brexit Done’ showed the Conservative’s strong and stable stance on Brexit (key issue at the time for voters) and aided Johnson in gaining an 80 seat majority government to handle Brexit negotiations

‘The Sun backs Blair’

with a daily readership of over 10 million, this aided Blair’s election campaign massively

2019 general election known as…

the social media election

May’s media

she was seen as wooden and unnatural; particular focus on bad speech where she couldn't stop coughing, letters fell off the wall and she was handed p45