the prime minister and executive

how can cabinets be weak

the prime minister decides when and how often to consult the cabinet. Some prime ministers have only consulted a few of the most important ministers

earlier minister quad

from 2010 to 2015, there were many informal and formal meetings with just David Cameron, the prime minister, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, George Osborne, the chancellor, and Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the treasury

later minister quad

Many important decisions in the pandemic were made by just Boris Johnson and his quad of ministers - rishi sunak, michael gove, matt hancock and dominic cummings.

why do pms not need the cabinet for policy

Prime ministers have lots of sources of institutional support that help them to make policy without the cabinet. They have the Prime Minister's office at number 10, including a policy unit made of civil servants and SpAds.

how have pms and spads changed

Recent prime ministers have had more SpAds than in the past, with Tony Blair having 50 and David Cameron and Nick Clegg having 107 by the end of their term. 

how does the pm need the cabinet for policy

if a large proportion of the cabinet doesn’t support a policy, it is likely that the prime minister won't be able to introduce it, as the cabinet as a whole needs to decide to introduce a policy.

what do cabinet ministers have a lot of influence over

Cabinet members control government departments, so are important in how policy is implemented.

cabinet ministers and emergencies

The cabinet is used to decide how to respond to emergencies, in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA). Here, the cabinet decided how to respond to crises like the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London, the credit crunch and the covid pandemic. 

old example of pm using patronage to control cabinet

in 1983, Margaret Thatcher consolidated her power by removing One Nation Conservatives from important economic positions and replacing them with Thatcherites. 

more recent example of pm using patronage to control cabinet

In July 2014, David Cameron had a cabinet reshuffle, in which he fired 5 ministers and demoted or promoted a further 3. 

why do prime ministers need to be careful using patronage

The prime minister has to ensure that different ideological wings are represented and that their cabinet is socially representative. This includes appointing ‘big beasts’, people with significant support representing different factions of parties. Not having a representative cabinet could lead to rebellions and ruptures

how was Tony Blair careful with patronage

although they disagreed on policy sometimes, Tony Blair had to keep Gordon Brown in his cabinet because he had significant support within the party

how was Theresa may careful with patronage

Theresa may had to have both pro and anti brexit members of her cabinet, including david cameron and boris johnson, to keep different wings happy with her leadership

example of failed cabinet reshuffle

Poor cabinet reshuffles can lead to disharmony in the party - theresa may was unable to reshuffle the cabinet as she wanted, jeremy hunt refused to leave the health department

how does the cabinet control the pm

As well as the pm being able to remove cabinet ministers, the cabinet can remove the pm. This happened to margaret thatcher, tony blair and theresa may

how can the pm control the public stances of the cabinet

collective ministerial responsibility

example of collective ministerial responsibility - tory

Iain Duncan Smith resigned from the Cameron government as Secretary of State for work and pensions because he disagreed with cuts to disability benefits and capital gains tax, which would work to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. 

example of collective ministerial responsibility - labour

Additionally, Clare Short and Robin Cook both resigned from Tony Blair’s government because they did not agree with the Iraq war. 

newer example of cmr - labour

anneliese Dodds resigned as international development minister after keir stormer announced he would cut foreign aid spending from 0.5 to 0.3% of gni

who do pms have to give cabinet positions to

Prime ministers often give’ big beasts’, MPs with controversial views and significant support, positions in the cabinet to limit their threats to the government, as they will generally follow CMR to keep their positions of power. Theresa May gave Boris Johnson a role in her cabinet, and Tony Blair gave Gordon Brown roles in his.

how has cmr hurt pms

In 2020, Sajid Javid resigned from his position as Chancellor as he refused to get rid of his SpAds. Later, many ministers resigned from Boris Johnson’s government over his handling of covid, embarrassing him and eventually forcing him to resign. 

how has cmr failed to control big beasts

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both kept Suella Braverman in their governments, possibly in an attempt to silence her, but she often ignored CMR and openly disagreed with the government’s immigration policy. This led to her being sacked by both prime ministers, but was embarrassing for the governments and made them appear divided and dysfunctional to the public. 

when has cmr been suspended - international

David Cameron suspended CMR during the campaign for the Brexit referendum, allowing ministers to campaign to leave. Many took advantage of this, including Michael Gove. 

when has cmr been suspended - environment

Theresa May suspended CMR in 2016, allowing ministers to criticise the decision to allow another runway at Heathrow, likely because she would not have enough support within the cabinet otherwise. 

when has cmr been ignored

Chancellor Hammond and Brexit secretary Davis publicly challenged each other over the ending of free movement, while Theresa May was PM, but neither resigned.

labour sad who hurt the pm

Alistair campbell became a liability to tony blair after exaggerating intelligence findings in the iraq war and resigned

coalition sped who hurt the pm

Andy coulson, david cameron’s communications director and former news of the world editor denied involvement in the phone hacking scandal, but was found guilty and went to prison

tory spads who hurt the pm

Nick timothy and fiona hill, may’s chiefs of staff, had dictatorial and controlling approaches, preventing her from getting advice from members of her government and party. Their advice on the 2017 snap election was seen as disastrous, with her losing her majority, and they both resigned

how are governments avoiding scrutiny on legislation

Governments increasingly use secondary legislation to create amendments without the consent of parliament, skeleton bills

how does the pm dominate their party

Backbench mps are less likely to oppose the government, as it could make them less likely to receive government positions in the future and it could harm the whole party

success of strong pm in controlling party

After the 2019 election where boris johnson won an 80 seat majority, parliament supported his brexit legislation, despite refusing to do so for theresa may

failure of pm to control party

the prime minister is meant to deliver electoral success, so if they look like liabilities mps will remove them. Despite seeming powerful in january 2020, poor handling of covid damaged boris johnson’s reputation and throughout the year his popularity plummeted, and in 2023 he resigned

issue for pm with smaller majority

David cameron had to make sacrifices to his policy to keep both wings of his party happy, but lost a key vote on sunday trading in 2016 because some members of his party didn't like it.

how can parliament force a pm out, example

The commons can force a pm out with a vote of no confidence - jim callaghan’s government collapsed in 1979 after a vote of confidence

tory obeying cmr example

when he was Chancellor in Boris Johnson's government, Rishi Sunak publicly supported and voted for the Northern Ireland Protocol that was a key part of Johnson's Brexit deal. In February 2023 when Prime Minister himself, however, Sunak criticised the Northern Ireland Protocol for involving too much paperwork, too many customs checks and creating a border in the Irish Sea. He replaced it with the Windsor Framework, which fixed these problems.

tory resigning over cmr coalition govt

Under david cameron, iain duncan smith resigned as secretary of state for work and pensions because he couldn't support cuts to disability benefits and capital gains tax

cmr resignations over brexit

In 2019, under Theresa May, David Davis and Boris Johnson resigned because they didn't agree with the chequers agreement for Brexit.

cmr resignation over general government

In 2019, amber rudd resigned from boris johnsons cabinet in protest against ‘loyal mps being purged’ and a no deal brexit

cmr ignored over brexit - specific ministers

throughout 2018-19 many of Theresa May’s ministers openly disagreed with her, but didn’t resign. Chancellor Hammond and Brexit secretary Davis publicly challenged each other over the ending of free movement, but neither resigned. 

cmr ignored over brexit - general

In march 2019, 13 tory frontbenchers abstained from voting to rule out a no deal brexit, defying a 3 line whip

labour cmr ignored

Tony blair allowed clare short to stay in the cabinet despite publicly opposing the iraq war in 2003

main examples of cmr being suspended

In 1975, labour ministers were allowed to campaign on different sides in the referendum on eec membership. In the 2016 eu membership referendum collective responsibility was suspended and tory ministers were allowed to campaign to leave

recent govt that regularly suspended cmr

Cmr was relaxed for the coalition government in 2010 to 2015 in various policy areas, such as the referendum on electoral reform in 2011

recent pm forced to suspend cmr over specific issue

In 2016 Theresa may announced a derogation from CMR who opposed the decision to allow an extra runway in heathrow

resignation over general failure in department - individual ministerial responsibility

in 2002 Estelle Morris resigned as Secretary of State for Education and Skills, after the department failed to meet the literacy and numeracy goals they had set for themselves. In her resignation letter, she said that she felt she was not well suited to the role.

resignation over specific errors as minister - individual ministerial responsibility

In 2018 amber rudd was forced to resign as home secretary after it was revealed that she inadvertently misled parliament on the use of deportation targets regarding the windrush scandal.

when has individual ministerial responsibility for departments been ignored recently - education

it relies on the honour of government officials. Traditionally, civil servants were unaccountable and ministers were responsible for their department’s failures. However, in 2020 Education Secretary Gavin Williamson oversaw major failings in his department, especially in the discriminatory algorithms used to give GCSE and A level grades. He blamed Ofqual and didn’t resign, while Sally Collier, the head of Ofqual and a civil servant, did.

when has individual ministerial responsibility for departments been ignored recently - health

In 2020, Health Secretary Matt Hancock blamed Public Health England for failings with the COVID pandemic, especially transmission in care homes and initial pandemic planning, and later abolished it, rather than taking responsibility and resigning.

recent labour example of individual ministerial responsibility resignation - personal conduct

louise haigh resigned from the labour government in 2024 after it was revealed that she pleaded guilty to fraud in 2013, when she claimed that a phone had been stolen for insurance, but it actually hadn’t

tory resignation over individual ministerial responsibility - personal behaviour

Damian Green resigned in 2017 after it was found that he had watched porn on his work computer and sexually harassed women

tory resignation over individual ministerial responsibility - unapproved actions

Priti patel resigned in 2017 after having unauthorised meetings with israeli ministers and the israeli prime minister

tory minister failure to resign for poor conduct

in 2020 Priti Patel didn’t resign as Home Secretary, despite bullying allegations from civil servants, and Boris Johnson refused to sack her.

tories general failure to follow individual ministerial responsibility - conduct

After the Partygate scandal was revealed in 2022, when parties were held in number 10 that broke lockdown rules and Boris Johnson specifically and knowingly misled parliament. Boris Johnson and other ministers didn’t resign, and Boris Johnson revised the ministerial code so that ministers who breach it are no longer expected to resign, but to publicly apologise and/or accept a reduction in pay.