Prime Minister and Cabinet Essay Plans

‘The cabinet no longer plays a meaningful role in the UK political system.’ Analyse and evaluate this statement

Point: I agree with the statment as there has been prime ministerial dominance, meaning that the prime minister excersises significant control over the government, overshadowing the cabinet

Evidence: A noticable example of this occuring is during Margaret Thatcher’s government from 1979-1990 where she was known to make policies without much discussion. Moreover, she was even accused of treating her cabinet with a lack of respect, even shorterning the amount of hours and frequency they met. She passed the 1981 busget also known as “ Thatcher Monetarist Budget” despite there being much opposition and full consultation to the cabinet with many cabinet ministers being caught off guard by the severity of the measures

Analysis:This is significant as it shows that the prime minister may not always take the opinions of the cabinet into account, this defeats the purpose of a cabinet and how their role can diminish with the dominance of the prime minister. Thatcher’s dominance significantly weakened the role of Cabinet in decision making, making it less meaningful in shaping policy. This shows that the executive is able to function without the need of a cabinet and that the cabinet does no longer play a meaningful role in the uk political system.

Counter: However there has also been times where the cabinet has had influence opposing the prime minister’s policy

Evidence: During the presidency of Theresa May, she encountered many hardships from her cabinet who opposed her preferred Brexit deal. This was because of her cabinet being split with hard brexiteers ( those who wanted to completely break off from the eu) and soft brexiteers (wanted to keep a relationship with the eu)

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