Executive examples

example of collective ministerial responsibility

Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband has been openly vocal against the construction of the 3rd runway at Heathrow airport → when Starmer said that they were going to build it, Milliband needed to publicly agree with the decision and display collective ministerial responsibility and show a united cabinet, or he has to resign (Salisbury convention- Lord Salisbury)

examples of PM patronage 1

Keir Starmer appointed Angela Rayner as deputy PM in response to her support over the years.

Examples of the constraints of party leadership (powers of the PM)

Seven Labour MPs had their whip suspended for six months after voting against the government on an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Zarah Sultana was one of them (MP for Coventry). 23rd July 2024.

This is a constraint as it shows that party support is not unconditional.

Examples of the constraints of PM public standing (powers of the PM)

Polls showed that Cameron was even more unpopular than his party (2013)

This undermined his authority

Examples of the powers of the PM with public standing

Keir Starmer attended the G20 in November 2024, representing the UK.
+ congratulated Donald Trump when he was elected President.

Examples of the powers of the PM with policy making 1

Blair’s majority of 179 in 1997 allowed him to pass legislation through the HoC with ease → with the help of party discipline/ whips. He set the agenda and passed an extensive programme of constitutional reform, including devolution and the Human Rights Act.

There was also a sharp sustained increase in expenditure on health and education as well as increased welfare benefits and a new minimum wage.

Although Blair had successes in passing legislation through the Commons, it was not as easy in the House of Lords → Blairs legislation was either voted down entirely or amended a total of 432 times during his premiership.

Examples of the powers of the PM with policy making 2

In 1988 Thatcher and her advisors came up with the idea of poll tax. The idea was extremely unpopular and despite opposition from within the party Thatcher pushed her agenda through.

examples of PM patronage 2

Boris Johnson was made foreign secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet to subdue him → he was a big beast and was seen as a more favourable leader to the public than May was.

Examples of individual responsibility 1

Matt Hancock (former Health Secretary in 2022) resigned after having an affair with a colleague during the covid-19 lockdown. - He personally screwed up

Examples of individual responsibility 2

Amber Rudd (former home secretary) resigned in 2018 after the Home Office was caught illegally deporting members of the Windrush generation. - Her department screwed up but she had to take responsibility as the head of the home office

Examples of collective ministerial responsibility 2

Boris Johnson (at the time of 2018, Foreign Secretary) felt that he could no longer publicly support Theresa Mays government policies. He resigned July 2018, due to disagreements over May’s negotiations for Brexit.

Examples of when there is no need for collective ministerial responsibility

1. Temporary suspension during referendums → Brexit Referendum 2016 - David Camerons cabinet did not have to agree on Brexit

2. Coalition governments → 2010 LibDem Conservative coalition naturally did not agree on multiple issues, such as nuclear power stations, tax allowances for married couples, higher education funding and to make the case against renewal of Trident nuclear deterrent.

3. Free votes → Assisted dying bill was a free vote and was not controlled by party whips - cabinet ministers can vote whatever they want.

Example of the role of the PM moving to presidentialism 1

The 2019 general election had the conservative slogan ‘back boris’ . the campaign was centred around one person and not the party which is a move towards presidentialism (emerging as a figure head) as this can develop into a personal mandate for Boris.

Example of the role of the PM moving to presidentialism 2

Personalised election campaigns → 1997 general election labour campaign was focused around Tony Blair - he became brand image of New Labour. his personality and charisma determined the partys success.

Example of the role of the PM moving to presidentialism 3

Keir Starmer has positional power more concentrated in the dominating members of his cabinet compared to Theresa May who had power more evenly spread but more concentrated on her role as PM.
→ Starmer had done this so he can control cabinet more (by giving power to his most trusted) - Prime ministerial government however NOT presidential yet as he would be relying on SPADs and not cabinet, Starmer still relies on parts of his cabinet.

Example of the role of the PM moving to presidentialism 4

Boris Johnson relied on SPADs - notably Dominic Cummings and Tony Blair using Alistair Campbell.

Examples of the PM getting taken down by his own party. 1

Although Tony Blair had a majority of 179 in 1997 and he suffered little opposition or intense scrutiny from the Commons, after the 2005 election, Blair begun to experience his first defeats in the House of Commons.
→ In 2005, on Blairs vote to give police powers to detain terrorist suspects for up to 90 days, 49 Labour backbenchers defied a three-line whip (11 of them were former ministers) and 13 others abstained.

Blair’s hold on the Labour Party was slipping and as the causalities of the Iraq war mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament and his popularity dropped astronomically.
After the 2005 election, Labours overall majority dropped from 167 to 66 seats.
So a combined result of the Iraq War and low approval ratings, pressure built up within the Labour Party for Blair to resign. He was also criticised in 2006 for not calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Blair announced his resignation of party leadership on the 24th June 2007 and as PM on the 27th June.

Examples of PM patronage 3

Peter Mandelson was brought in under Blair and was made a minister without portfolio (a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department) → a method used to bring friends into cabinet.

Example of the role of the PM moving to presidentialism 5

Blair made the Bank of England independent without cabinet consultation and Thatcher chose to discuss policies in cabinet committees rather than cabinet itself.

Blair reduced the length of Cabinet meetings from 2hrs to 45 minutes → he preferred to have smaller meetings with individual ministers or special advisors outside of Cabinet.

Examples of the PMs control over cabinet. 1

The PMs power of patronage gives them the ability to reshuffle the Cabinet whenever they feel like it → can appoint and dismiss ministers to reshape the Cabinet they desire (people with similar views to them that are unlikely to rebel)
e.g. In 2018, Theresa May reshuffled the Cabinet, in which Damian Hinds was appointed as education secretary to replace Justine Greening.

Examples against the powers of the PM increasing. 1

The powers of the PM are not increasing - PMs are only as powerful as circumstances allow them to be.
Yes, dominating PMs like Thatcher and Blair held vast amounts of power but this was only due to other factors like the size of their parliamentary majority, economic and political context, media attitudes and strength of Opposition. Personality also plays a key role in how much dominance a PM holds.

Tony Blair had a massive majority and faced limited opposition to bills he wanted to pass in the Commons. A weak opposition meant that Blair had the power to implement whatever he wished, knowing it would get passed in parliament. Blair also had an extremely popular personality, which boosted his media image as he was seen as charismatic and diplomatic. His media image also benefited after his response to the death of Princess Diana, dubbing her '“the peoples princess”.

Thatchers popularity soared after the Falklands War and this made her experience in parliament smoother. → her popularity was purely due to the circumstances at the time as she was the least popular PM in polling history and after the invasion, her approval ratings rose from 41% in April and to 56% in May. In June, after British troops had taken back the islands, Thatcher had an approval rating of 59% → helping her to achieve the Conservative landslide victory in 1983.

The problem of having a reduced majority becomes evident in the 2010 Coalition when David Cameron was forced to amend his manifesto promises to suit the agreement that had been set up with the Liberal Democrats.
Many of the things Conservatives wanted to pass were diluted or blocked by the LibDems, such as replacing the HRA with a British Bill of Rights and reducing the overall number of MPs from 650 to 600. The Conservatives had a minority in parliament and had to rely on LibDem support to pass any legislation, and so the coalition, and the minority government, acted as limitations to their PM power.