The following is a brief 101 on what a Prime Minister does. Who actually selects the prime Minister, remember Gordon Brown and Theresa May both assumed the office following their own Party Political process they did not lead a campaign in a General Election to qualify for the invitation by Her Majesty the Queen to form a Government.
The Bold statement that ´´56% said he would be a disaster as Prime minister´´, quoted from the BBC today , does not make any sense it is a signal that no evidence is needed or understanding of how Democracy and Government works in the British Isles is needed in the Karaoke Politics of Britain in 2017.
Don’t Get Fooled again.
The Prime Minister, Are we electing a Prime Minister, A Cabinet or a Government?
She will highlight Conservative policies to cap energy bills, protect workplace pensions and improve mental health provision, while investing in the armed forces.
“I will be reaching out to all those who have been abandoned by Labour and let down by government for too long. I will be doing everything I can to earn their trust,” she will say.
“My commitment to them is this: if you put your trust in me, back me, I will strive to be a leader worthy of our great country.”
Meanwhile, a ComRes survey carried out for the Daily Mirror suggests Labour’s general election pledges are more popular among voters than Mr Corbyn himself.
ComRes interviewed 1,021 adults online on 11 May and found 52% backed Labour’s proposals to renationalise the railways – as set out in the leaked draft manifesto – with 22% against.
The party’s proposed reforms to the energy market were supported by 49% with 24% against, while 50% backed re-nationalisation of the Royal Mail, with 25% opposed.
Banning zero hours contracts was supported by 71% with 16% against, and 65% said they agreed with raising income tax for people earning more than £80,000 a year, with 24% opposed.
However just 30% agreed that Mr Corbyn should be given a fair chance at leading the country, while 56% said he would be a “disaster” as prime minister.
The United Kingdom’s constitution, being uncodified and largely unwritten, makes no mention of a prime minister. Though it had de facto existed for centuries, its first mention in official state documents did not occur until the first decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, it is often said “not to exist”, indeed there are several instances of parliament declaring this to be the case. The prime minister sits in the cabinet solely by virtue of occupying another office, either First Lord of the Treasury (office in commission), or more rarely Chancellor of the Exchequer (the last of whom was Balfour in 1905).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/intermediate2/modern_studies/government_and_decision_making_in_central_government/uk_parliament/revision/1/
The UK Parliament
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy: government is voted into power by the people to act in the interests of the people.
The UK is also, however, a constitutional monarchy. It is the monarch who is the head of state, not the Prime Minister. This is why the UK Government is known as ‘Her Majesty’s Government’. The UK monarch will not get involved in politics and the role is now a symbolic one.
The UK Parliament is composed of two houses; the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
House of Commons
Every four or five years, the UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests in the House of Commons. MPs represent a constituency or ‘seat’ as it is commonly known. MPs consider and propose new laws, and can scrutinise government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in the Commons Chamber or in Committees.
While occasionally an ‘independent’ MP is elected, most of the time MPs are elected as members of political parties.
House of Lords
Membership of the House of Lords can fluctuate. There is normally around 800 members at any one time, although it is rare for them all to attend at the same time. Lords members are referred to as ‘peers’. Peers are unelected.
There are three different types of peers:
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Life Peers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. They have the job for life and cannot pass the title on to their children.
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Archbishops and bishops sit in the Lords. They pass their membership on to the next most senior bishop when they retire.
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Elected hereditary Peers. The 1999 House of Lords Act removed all but 92 hereditary peers who were elected internally.
Powers of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Prime Ministers have certain constitutional powers.
Although there is Cabinet government in the UK, the Prime Minister’s power is assured through ‘primus inter pares’: first among equals.
How well they use these powers depends on their personality and political style.
The Prime Minister does not have the constitutional authority a US President has. The Prime Minister is not directly elected by the voters. A governing party can replace the Prime Minister without consulting the voters, as Labour did when it elected Gordon Brown to replace Tony Blair in 2007.
Most MPs seek promotion. The PM can use this ambition to ensure loyalty. Sometimes a Prime Minister will appoint rivals into the Cabinet. Prime Ministers can use the protocol of ‘collective responsibility’ to silence Cabinet critics. Once a cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister makes a decision, all cabinet Ministers must support it, whether they agree with it or not. If they speak out in public, they must resign. Examples of ministers who spoke out against the war in Iraq were Clare Short and the late Robin Cook.
The Prime Minister can re-shuffle Cabinet Ministers to different Cabinet posts. He has the power of appointment of junior ministers, senior civil servants, bishops and judges.
Special advisers
Prime ministers, and other ministers, often appoint special advisers.
They are an additional resource for the Minister, providing assistance from a standpoint that is more politically committed and politically aware than would be available to them from the Civil Service.
Some are critical of how much special advisers are consulted compared to Cabinet colleagues.
The Work of a backbench MP
The constitutional role of a backbench MP is to represent his/her constituents, even those who did not vote for them or did not vote at all. At the same time, many backbench MPs will feel that they have a responsibility to their political party.
Sometimes the views of the party may come into conflict with the views of constituents. Backbench MPs, in this case, must make a choice; either to upset their local constituents or upset the party whip.
Backbench MPs inside Parliament
Inside the House of Commons, Backbench MPs participate in Parliamentary Committees by scrutinising Bills and proposing amendments to Bills.
They may speak during Commons debates and will regularly vote in these debates. They will question Ministers, including the Prime Minister.
While there is not much time available, they may try to introduce a Private Members Bill.
Backbench MPs outside Parliament
Outside of Parliament, a backbench MP will do work in their Constituency, communicating with their constituents by writing letters, emails and replying to phone calls. Often MPs will hold ‘surgeries’ where constituents can ask questions or get help with problems. Some MPs will send a newsletter sent out to constituents and communicate via their own website or social media presence.
MPs will be asked to attend a great deal of meetings and events, including with their local constituency party. They require the support of the local party to ensure that they will be selected to stand in future elections.
https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmpolcon/writev/842/m2.htm
The role and powers of the Prime Minister
Written evidence submitted by Professor the Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, FBA
Professor the Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, FBA, Attlee Professor of Contemporary History, School of History, Queen Mary, University of London.
When preparing my study of The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders since 1945, I used a Cabinet Office paper on ‘Function of the Prime Minister and his Staff’ prepared in 1947. (It can be found at The National Archives in CAB 21/1638). As far as I could discover this analysis was not shown to Clement Attlee or any of his successors and that the exercise had never been replicated.
In 1995 I attempted to update it. And, for the purposes of your inquiry into the premiership, I have had another stab. So, as an offering to your examination, here are my cartographies of the British prime ministers’ functions as Head of Government (they do not include party leader responsibilities).
21 February 2011
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Prime Minister’s functions 2011
Constitutional and procedural
1: Managing the relationship between the Government and the Monarch and the Heir to the Throne.
2: Managing the relationship between the Government and the Opposition on a Privy Counsellor basis.
3: Managing the relationships between UK Central Government and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
4: Establishing order of precedence in Cabinet.
5: Interpretation and content of procedural and conduct guidelines for ministers as outlined in the Ministerial Code and the draft Cabinet Manual.
6: Oversight, with the Cabinet Secretary advising, of the Civil Service Code as enshrined in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
7: Decisions, with the Justice Secretary, on whether and when to use the ministerial override on disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
8: Requesting the Sovereign to grant a dissolution of Parliament (unless and until Parliament passes the Fixed-Term Parliament Bill.)
9: Authorising the Cabinet Secretary to facilitate negotiations between the political parties in the event of a ‘hung’ General Election result.
10: Managing intra-Coalition relationships with the Deputy Prime Minister.
Appointments
(Made in the name of the Sovereign but chosen by the Prime Minister).
1: Appointment and dismissal of ministers (final approval of their parliamentary private secretaries and special advisers) in consultation with the Deputy Prime Minister for Liberal Democrat appointments and the appointment of the Law Officers.
2: Top appointments to the headships of the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters.
3: Top appointments to the Home Civil Service; and, in collaboration with the Foreign Secretary to the Diplomatic Service; and, with the Defence Secretary, to the Armed Forces.
4: Top ecclesiastical appointments (though since Gordon Brown’s premierships, the Prime Minister has conveyed the preference of the Church of England’s selectors to the Monarch without interference).
5: Residual academic appointments: the Mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge; the Principalship of King’s College, London; a small number of regius professorships in Oxford and Cambridge (the First Minister in Edinburgh is responsible for the Scottish regius chairs). Since the Blair premiership the No 10 practice has been to convey the wishes of the institutions to the Queen without interference.
6: Top public sector appointments and regulators (with some informal parliamentary oversight).
7: Appointments to committees of inquiry and royal commissions.
8: The award of party political honours.
9: Party political appointments to the House of Lords (independent crossbench peers are selected by the House of Lords Appointments Commission and the Prime Minister conveys the recommendations to the Monarch without interference).
Conduct of cabinet and parliamentary business
1: Calling meetings of Cabinet and its committees. Fixing their agenda and, in the case of committees their membership in consultation with the Deputy Prime Minister.
2: The calling of ‘Political Cabinets’ with no officials present.
3: Deciding issues where Cabinet or Cabinet committees are unable to agree.
4: Deciding, with the Deputy Prime Minister, when the Cabinet is allowed an ‘opt out’ on collective responsibility and subsequent whipping arrangements in Parliament.
5: Granting ministers permission to miss Cabinet meetings or leave the country.
6: Ultimate responsibility (with the Deputy Prime Minister and the leaders of the House of Commons and the House of Lords) for the government’s legislative programme and the use of government time in the chambers of both Houses.
7: Answering questions for 30 minutes on Wednesdays when the House of Commons is sitting on nearly the whole range of government activity.
8: Appearing twice a year to give evidence before the House of Commons Liaision Committee.
Policy strategy and communications
1: Keeper, with the Deputy Prime Minister, of the Coalition’s overall Political Strategy.
2: Oversight of No 10 Communications Strategy and work of the Government Communication Network.
3: Pursuit and promulgation of special overarching policies particularly associated with the Prime Minister eg. the ‘Big Society.’
Organisational and efficiency questions
1: Organisation and Staffing of No 10 and the Cabinet Office (including the Prime Minister’s relationship with the Deputy Prime Minister and the two senior Cabinet Office ministers dealing with policy strategy and public service reform).
2: Size of Cabinet, workload on ministers and the Civil Service.
3: The creation and merger of government departments and executive agencies.
Budget and market-sensitive decisions
1: Determining with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary of the Treasury the detailed contents of the Budget. By tradition, the full Cabinet is only apprised of the full contents the morning before the Budget statement is delivered.
2: Interest rates are now set by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer possess an override under the Bank of England Act 1998 if the ‘public interest’ requires and ‘by extreme economic circumstances’ but this has never been used.
National security
1: Chairing the weekly meetings of the National Security Council (which also serves, when needed, as a ‘War Cabinet’).
2: Oversight of the production and implementation of the National Security Strategy.
3: Oversight of counter-terrorist policies and arrangements.
4: Overall efficiency of the secret agencies, their operations, budgets and oversight and the intelligence assessments process in the Cabinet Office.
5: Preparation of the ‘War Book’.
6: Contingency planning to cope with threats to essential services and national health from whatever sources.
7: With the Foreign and Defence Secretaries the use of the royal prerogative to deploy Her Majesty’s Forces in action (with Parliament, by convention, being consulted if time allows).
8: With the Foreign Secretary the use of the royal prerogative to ratify or annul treaties, to recognise or derecognise countries (though in certain circumstances, the House of Commons can block treaty ratification under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010).
Special personal responsibilities
1: Representing the UK at a range of international meetings and ‘summits.’
2: The maintenance of the special intelligence and nuclear relationships with the US President under the terms of the 1946 Communications Agreement, the 1958 Agreement for Co-operation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes and the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement.
3: The decision to shoot down a hijacked aircraft or an unidentified civil aircraft which responds neither to radio contact nor the signals of RAF interceptor jets, before it reaches a conurbation or a key target on UK territory (plus the appointment of two or three deputies for this purpose).
4: Authorisation of the use of UK nuclear weapons including the preparation of four ‘last resort’ letters for installation in the inner safes of each Royal Navy Trident submarine and the appointment, on a personal basis rather than the Cabinet’s order of precedence, of the ‘nuclear deputies’ lest the Prime Minister should be out of reach or indisposed during an emergency.
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| Prepared 15th March 2011 | |
Part of a Blog on the constitutional Role of the PM. What is Government in Modern Britain and Why Personalities and character assassination do Democracy and our form of it a huge Dis-service? #Corbyn4PM
In this lesson, we will examine the roles and duties of the British prime minister and Cabinet. We will pay close attention to how the prime…
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ON THE MAY 2015 UK ELECTION.
On the May 2015 Election, Bear in mind that if you wish to see some policy from Central Government or indeed Local Government that answers the needs and wants of the regular citizen i.i me and you! Politicians have to be made accountable. By Voting for Mainstream Parties one effectively resigns oneself to the model described in the Quotes below ( quotes from Roy Madron , Super Competent Democracies).
‘Democracy is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote’.” Joseph Schumpeter, Quoted from Roy Madron , Super Competent Democracies who in turn Cites. “Participation, and Democratic Theory” by Carole Pateman. Dr. Pateman says that, Schumpeter and his followers: … set the current Anglo-American political system as our democratic ideal (with) a ‘democratic theory’ that in many respects bears a strange resemblance to the anti-democratic arguments of the last (i.e. 19th) century. No longer is democratic theory centered on the participation of ‘the people’; in the contemporary theory of democracy it is the participation of the minority elite that is crucial and the non-participation of the apathetic, ordinary man lacking in the feelings of political efficacy, that is regarded as the main bulwark against instability.´´
I highly recommend that anyone that wishes to work out the game that New Labour (neo lib Blair Rebels against Corbyn ed.2017)now plays and why should try to get hold of a Copy of Roys book, any progressive publishers out there should get in touch with Roy and do a UK edition if he is amenable.
Getting the Hang of Super-Smart Democracies
From ‘Sharing Attlee’s DNA’ you will see that I am a fervent admirer of the legacy of social and economic reform that Democratic Socialists such as Clement Attlee built up in the first half of the 20th Century. It is to the immense credit of Jeremy Corbyn and his followers that they are trying to preserve and build upon that legacy.
was often noted to scoff