Powers of the Prime Minister

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Powers of the Prime Minister
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Examine the view that the Prime Minister is is
merely the First Amongst Equals.
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The Prime Minister of the UK is effectively the
President of the UK Discuss.
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To what extent can Parliament control the powers
of the Prime Minister?
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ONE WAY OR ANOTHER HES GOT A LOT OF POWERS
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Power Number 1
The Prime Minister hires, fires and reshuffles
the Cabinet and all the other government jobs as
well. (Name some examples to prove you know
this.)
Dont fall out with the Prime Minister!
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Power Number 2
The Prime Minister decides the Cabinet agenda,
and sums up what the feeling of the Cabinet is.
Cabinet Collective Responsibility means they put
up with it or resign.
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Power Number 3
The Prime Minister tends to get involved in the
work of Cabinet Committees.
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Power Number 4
Ministers rarely resign from their jobs

• Being Cabinet Minister is all theyve ever wanted
  to do
• Theyre loyal party members usually
• They can achieve more from inside the Cabinet
  than out
• Its often only the one thing they disagree about
• Cabinet Ministers get paid a lot more than MPs!

So the PM can call their bluff.
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Power Number 5
The Prime Minister is head of a mass party
Their loyalty is to him, not the Cabinet
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Power Number 6
The Prime Minister is head of the Civil Service
He can call on the expert advice of lots more
people than anyone else
He also has his own department, the Cabinet
Office, which appoints the top Civil servants in
all the others
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Power Number 7
The Mass Media tend to seek out the Prime
Minister for definitive answers
This promotes the idea that the PM is boss
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Power Number 8
The Prime Minister decides on the date of the
next General Election
MPs with small majorities beware
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How do you remember all that?
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Method 1 The Spider Diagram
(sorry) Mind Map
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Method 2 Bullet Points
1 Hires Fires
2 Decides Agenda
3 Involved in Cabinet Committees
4 Ministers Rarely Resign
5 Party Leader
6 Controls Civil Service
7 Media Hangs on Every Word
8 Calls Elections
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Method 3 Short Words Method

• Hires
• Agenda
• Committees
• Rarely Resign
• Party
• Civil Service
• Media
• Elections

1 Hires
2 Agenda
3 Committees
4 Rarely Resign
5 Party
6 Civil Service
7 Media
8 Elections
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Method 4 The Subliminal Method

• Hires
• Agenda
• Committees
• Rarely Resign
• Party
• Civil Service
• Media
• Elections

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Powers of the Prime Minister
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The Powers of the Prime Minister
Part 2 CONSTRAINTS (LIMITS)
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Its NOT all plain sailing for the Prime Minister
There are CONSTRAINTS on the Prime Minister too
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Constraint Number 1
Needs continuing Cabinet support
Cant sack too many Cabinet ministers
Cant introduce too many controversial measures
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Constraint Number 2
Needs continuing assistance from Parliament
Needs cooperation Opposition to make time to pass
laws
Own backbench MPs need to support in Commons and
not ask difficult questions
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Constraint Number 3
Needs continuing party support
The party can give the leader a really hard time
This often happens at the annual party conference
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Constraint Number 4
The Prime Minister depends on the advice of the
Civil Service
Theyre the experts - they only really ask him to
take the very big decisions from a range of
options
Consider Iraq war,health care, education, economy
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Constraint Number 5
The Mass Media can exert huge pressures on any
politician
They can praise or criticise, and they can also
choose what part of the PMs performance should
be discussed
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Constraint Number 6
Pressure Groups can be a big problem for a Prime
Minister
Sometimes a quiet group works better though.
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The Mind Map Strikes Back
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So
Is Brown
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A President..
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..or a Prisoner?
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Powers
Constraints
Hires Fires
Needs Cabinet support
Decides Agenda
Cabinet Committees
Ministers Rarely Resign
Party Leader
Needs Party Support
Controls Civil Service
Needs Civil Service Support
Media Hangs on Every Word
Media Pressure
Calls Elections
Needs Support of House (MPs)
Pressure Groups
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The Powers of the Prime Minister
Part 2 CONSTRAINTS (LIMITS)
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Its NOT all plain sailing for the Prime Minister
There are CONSTRAINTS on the Prime Minister too
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(No Transcript)
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Constraint Number 1
Needs continuing Cabinet support
Cant sack too many Cabinet ministers
Cant introduce too many controversial measures
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Constraint Number 2
Needs continuing assistance from Parliament
Needs cooperation Opposition to make time to pass
laws
Own backbench MPs need to support in Commons and
not ask difficult questions
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Constraint Number 3
Needs continuing party support
The party can give the leader a really hard time
This often happens at the annual party conference
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Constraint Number 4
The Prime Minister depends on the advice of the
Civil Service
Theyre the experts - they only really ask him to
take the very big decisions from a range of
options
Consider Iraq war,health care, education, economy
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Constraint Number 5
The Mass Media can exert huge pressures on any
politician
They can praise or criticise, and they can also
choose what part of the PMs performance should
be discussed
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Constraint Number 6
Pressure Groups can be a big problem for a Prime
Minister
Sometimes a quiet group works better though.
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The Mind Map Strikes Back
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So
Is Brown
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A President..
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..or a Prisoner?
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Powers
Constraints
Hires Fires
Needs Cabinet support
Decides Agenda
Cabinet Committees
Ministers Rarely Resign
Party Leader
Needs Party Support
Controls Civil Service
Needs Civil Service Support
Media Hangs on Every Word
Media Pressure
Calls Elections
Needs Support of House (MPs)
Pressure Groups
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Specification Number 1
EXPERIENCE
There isnt any substitute, especially in a
crisis.
Examples - Northern Rock, not knowing how many
immigrants there are, losing private data
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Specification Number 2
COMPETENCE
Have to be able to run departments and their
civil servants
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Specification Number 3
TEAMWORK
Need to be able to work as a team, even if dont
like each other
Example - Early Blair Cabinet had strong
personality disagreements but it could work
together
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Specification Number 4
PARTY BALANCE
Represents all shades of opinion, to maintain
support
Examples -
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Specification Number 5
NEED FOR SOME YOUTH
A blend of youth and experience carries on the
line through the lifetime of a Cabinet.
Examples - Compare younger ministers (Miliband,
Balls) with older ones (Brown, Harman, Straw)
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Specification Number 6
NOT TOO LARGE
Practical problem - more people more have to
agree
Also constitutional issue - unwritten rule that
Cabinet should be around 20 paid ministers
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Yet Another Spider Diagram
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The Bullet Point Method
1 Experience
2 Competence
3 Teamwork
4 Party Balance
5 Need For Some Youth
6 Not Too Large
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Watch Carefully

• Experience
• Competence
• Teamwork
• Party Balance
• Need For Some Youth
• Not Too Large