The Prime Minister
The Civil Service
Key terms
- Executive: collective group of PM, Cabinet, junior ministers, also known as “The Government”
- Cabinet: PM and senior ministers, most of whom lead a particular government department
- Minister: MP or Lord appointed to a position in government, usually exercising specific responsibilities in a department
- Government department: A part of the executive usually with specific responsibility over an area such as education, health or defence
- Royal prerogative: A set of powers and privileges belonging to the monarch but normally exercised by the Prime Minister or Cabinet, such as the granting of hounours or of legal pardons
- Secondary legislation: Powers given to the Executive by the Parliament to make changes to the law within certain specific rules
- Individual responsibility: Principle by which ministers are responsible for their personal conduct and for their departments
- Collective responsibility: Principle by which ministers must support Cabinet decisions or leave the Executive
- Presidential government: Executive dominated by one individual, may be a President but is also used to describe a strong, dominant PM
What is the modern Cabinet?
-
Senior ministers of the Government
- Most departments have a senior minister, e.g. Secretary of State
Powers of the Cabinet
- Members are subject to the PM
-
Most ministers run their own departments
- Execute overall policy vision
- Make decisions on policy details
- Have their own links to media and pressure groups
-
Some powerful ministers can refuse to be moved
- Jeremy Hunt in Jan 2018 refused to be moved from Health Secretary by Theresa May
- Ended up extending his title to include Social Care
- Greatest power is resignation
Ministerial code breach
-
Nov 2020: Priti Patel (Home Secretary under BoJo)
- Found to have broken the ministerial code, accused of bullying staff
- PM rejected findings, saying he did not think she was a bully and had “full confidence” in her
-
2022: Johnson breached ministerial code over Partygate
- Fined for breaking lockdown rules, did not resign
Exceptions to collective ministerial responsibility
- Temporary suspension during a referendum (1975 EEC, 2016 EU)
- Coalition government (2010: higher education funding and Trident)
- Free votes (Starmer free vote on assisted dying 2024)
PMs History
| Prime Minister | Tenure | Party | Election years | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clement Attlee | 1945–1951 | Labour | 1945 | NHS, welfare state, post-war rebuilding |
| Winston Churchill | 1951–1955 | Conservative | 1951 | WWII leadership, Cold War stance |
| Anthony Eden | 1955–1957 | Conservative | 1955 | Suez Crisis |
| Harold Macmillan | 1957–1963 | Conservative | 1959 | “You’ve never had it so good”, decolonisation |
| Alec Douglas-Home | 1963–1964 | Conservative | — | Last PM from the House of Lords |
| Harold Wilson | 1964–1970, 1974–1976 | Labour | Feb 1974, Oct 1974 | Social reforms, economic modernisation |
| Edward Heath | 1970–1974 | Conservative | 1970 | Took UK into the EEC (EU) |
| James Callaghan | 1976–1979 | Labour | — | Winter of Discontent |
| Margaret Thatcher | 1979–1990 | Conservative | 1979, 1983, 1987 | Thatcherism, privatisation, Falklands War |
| John Major | 1990–1997 | Conservative | 1992 | Maastricht Treaty, ERM crisis |
| Tony Blair | 1997–2007 | Labour | 1997, 2001, 2005 | New Labour, Good Friday Agreement, Iraq War |
| Gordon Brown | 2007–2010 | Labour | — | Global financial crisis |
| David Cameron | 2010–2016 | Conservative | 2010, 2015 | Coalition government, uni fees, Brexit |
| Theresa May | 2016–2019 | Conservative | — | Brexit negotiations |
| Boris Johnson | 2019–2022 | Conservative | 2019 | Brexit, COVID, Partygate |
| Liz Truss | 2022 | Conservative | — | Lettuce |
| Rishi Sunak | 2022–2024 | Conservative | — | Stability |
| Keir Starmer | 2024- | Labour | 2024 | ?? |