The Cabinet and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Privy Council and Cabinets

The consultative and advisory functions formerly belonged to the Privy Council. Now they are exercised by a small group of Ministers known as the Cabinet. The Cabinet grew as an inner Council within the Privy Council, and members possess the exclusive right to advise the King, and are known to the law as the Privy Councilors. But as body, the Cabinet is not recognized either by the common law or statute law and the rules which regulate its working as well its relation with the Crown or the Parliament are entirely based on conventions.

Growth of the Cabinet

In its origin the Cabinet was an informal committee selected at his pleasure by the King from the larger body of the Privy Council to advise him in the work of the Government. At first their members were not necessarily members of the legislature, and they were responsible to the King alone. The Cabinet system was definitely adopted by Charles II. Parliament originally did not favour it as it thought that the practice of seeking advice from a group of Ministers was an encroachment on the constitutional function of the Privy Council.

Until the accession of George I, the King always attended the Cabinet Council; George I did not do so because he did not know English. Hence arose the practice of the King not attending the Cabinet meetings. This abstention of the monarchs from attendance in the Cabinet meetings was a step of prime importance in the development of responsible ministry. It left the group leaderless, and made possible the growth of the office of the Prime Minister upon which the whole modern cabinet system depends. In the absence of the monarch, some one had to take the lead, this was unusually assumed by the minister who possessed the greatest influence in the parliament. So modern cabinet grew up, first as a committee of the Privy Council and later of the Houses of the Parliament composed of the Heads of the great administrative or other departments of State under the leadership of the Prime Minister, tendering collective advice to the Crown, upon which it must act, and collectively responsible to the House of Commons. It has now been the most important development of the government of the modern times.

Meetings of the Cabinet:

The Cabinet meets on a regular basis, usually weekly on a Thursday morning, notionally to discuss the most important issues of government policy, and to make decisions. The length of meetings vary according to the style of the Prime Minister and political conditions, but today meetings can be as little as 30 minutes in length.

The Cabinet has numerous sub-committees which focus particular policy areas, particularly ones which cut across several ministerial responsibilities, and therefore need coordination. These may be permanent committees or set up for a short duration to look at particular issues. Junior Ministers are also often members of these committees, in addition to Secretaries of State. The transaction of government business through meetings of the Cabinet and its many committees is administered by a small secretariat within the Cabinet Office.

In practice, and increasingly in recent years, weekly meetings of the full Cabinet have tended to be more concerned with the exchange of information and general discussion of day to day political issues; with major decisions being taken by Cabinet Committees or in informal groups, often bi-laterals between the Prime Minister and an individual minister. Many Prime Ministers have in effect a so-called "kitchen cabinet" consisting of their own trusted advisers who may be Cabinet members but are often trusted personal advisers on their own staff. In recent governments (generally from Margaret Thatcher), and especially in that of Tony Blair, it has been reported that many, or even all major decisions have been said to be made before cabinet meetings. This suggestion has been made by former ministers such as Clare Short and Chris Smith in the media, and was made clear in the Butler Review where Blair's style of "sofa government" was censured.

Composition of the Cabinet:

The Cabinet consists of a group of Ministers, normally something over 20 in number. They are invited by the Prime Minister to attend Cabinet meetings. Most of them are heads of the chief government departments, the foreign secretary and home secretary. But a number of heads of departments will be outside the Cabinet. The Cabinet can be described as the nucleus of the Ministry. In choosing the Cabinet the Prime Minister has a number of factors to consider, such as the importance of the various offices, the influence of members in the country, the authority of members in the Commons and their value in debate. Convention requires that all ministers must sit in one or other of the Houses of the Parliament, in order their activities may be subject to parliamentary supervision. Prime Ministers in recent years are said to in the habit of summoning 'Inner Cabinet'. An Inner Cabinet is supposed to be efficient part that directs the Cabinet's activities. It has no organic or set place in the Cabinet. It is an informal, small group of friends of the Prime Minister drawn from the members in the Cabinet.

Its nature:

The Cabinet is a body unrecognized by law. Its existence is only customary, i.e., based on custom or convention. No Act of Parliament authorizes its formation nor even refers to it by that name and no official document constitutes it.

Functions of the Cabinet:

The Cabinet is the supreme executive body in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the final determination of policy to be submitted to parliament, which has the supreme control of the national executive in accordance with policy prescribed by parliament. The main functions of the Cabinet are the following: (1) the final determination of the policy to be submitted to Parliament; (2) the continuous co-ordination in the interests of several Departments of State; (3) the supreme control over the national executive in accordance with the policy prescribed by Parliament. The functions of the executive can be explained as follows:

Policy determining functions:

The Cabinet is a deliberative and policy formulating body. It discusses and decides all sorts of national and international problems and attempts to reach unanimous agreements among members regarding the Government's policy concerning each.

However, much the members may disagree among themselves, they must present to Parliament and to the world a united front. If an individual member finds it impossible to agree with the conclusions of the Cabinet, the only course left for him is to resign.

Supreme Control of the Executive:

The Cabinet is not an executive instrument in the sense that it possesses all legal powers. Legally, the Executive power still vests in the King. The real authority that acts for the Crown and its names are ministers. These Ministers preside over major Departments of the government and carry out the policy determined by the Cabinet and approved by Parliament.

Cabinet as Co-ordinator:

The essential function of the Cabinet is to co-ordinate and to guide the functions of the several Departments of the Government. Administration cannot be divided into twenty or more Departments. The action of one Department may affect the function of another Department. The Cabinet does the vital task of co-ordinating policy and implementation.

The Cabinet gives advice to the Sovereign through the Prime Minister. Most important matters of policy are discussed at the Cabinet meetings. There is no quorum for a Cabinet.

Relationship with Parliament:

Two key constitutional conventions regarding the accountability of the cabinet to Parliament exist - collective cabinet responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility. These are derived from the fact the members of the cabinet are members of Parliament, and therefore accountable to it, because Parliament is sovereign. Cabinet collective responsibility means that members of the cabinet make decisions collectively, and are therefore responsible for the consquences of these decisions collectively. Therefore, when a vote of no confidence is passed in Parliament, every minister and government official drawn from the parliament automatically resign in their role as the executive. The entire executive is dismissed. So logically, cabinet ministers that disagree with major decisions are expected to resign as to take a recent example, Robin Cook did over the decision to attack Iraq in 2003.

Individual ministerial responsibility is the convention that in their capacity as head of department, a minister is responsible for the actions, and therefore the failings too of their department. Since the civil service is permanent under circumstances of gross incompetence in their department, a minister 'must' resign. Perhaps surprisingly, this is relatively rare in practice, perhaps because, whilst many would consider incompetence more harmful than personal scandal, it is of less interest to more populist elements of the media, and less susceptible to unequivocal proof. The closest example in recent years is perhaps Estelle Morris who resigned as Secretary of State for Education and Skills in 2002 of her own volition. The circumstances under which this convention is followed are of course not possible to strictly define, and depend on many other factors. If a minister's reputation is seen to be tarnished by a personal scandal they very often resign, often as the result of a short period of intense media and opposition pressure for them to do so. In general, despite numerous scandals, cases of serious corruption are relatively rare in Britain in comparison with many other democracies. One reason is because of the strength of the whip system and political parties in comparison to individual politicians means MPs and ministers have little capacity to be influenced by external groups offering money.

Questions can be tabled for Cabinet ministers in either houses of Parliament, which can either be for written or oral reply. Cabinet ministers must answer them, either themselves or through a deputy. Written answers, which are usually more specific and detailed than oral questions are usually written by a civil servant. Answers to written and oral questions are published in Hansard. Parliament cannot dismiss individual ministers but the House of Commons is able to determine the fate of the entire Government. If a vote of no confidence in the Government passes, then confidence must be restored either by a dissolution of Parliament and the election of a new one, or by the resignation of the Government collectively.

In the United Kingdom's parliamentary system, the executive is not separate from the legislature, since Cabinet members are drawn from Parliament. Moreover the executive tends to dominate the legislature for several reasons:

The first-past-the-post voting system, the power of the Government Whips the "payroll vote" The combined effect of the Prime Minister's ability to control cabinet by circumventing effective discussion in Cabinet and the executive's ability to dominate parliamentary proceedings places the British Prime Minister in a position of great power that has been likened to an elective dictatorship. The relative impotence of Parliament to hold the Government of the day to account is often cited by the UK media as a justification for the vigour with which they question and challenge the Government.

A 'presidential' Prime Minister:

In contemporary times, the nature of the cabinet has been criticised by some, largely because several Prime Ministers are perceived as acting in a 'presidential' manner. Such an accusation has been made at Tony Blair as he is believed to refrain from using the Cabinet as a collective decision making body. These actions have caused concern as it contravenes the convention of the PM being 'first among equals'. In this sense, he is acting like a US President, who is not constitutionally bound to collectively make decisions with his cabinet. Margaret Thatcher was also noted as being 'presidential', in the capacity that she 'forced' her own viewpoints onto her cabinet.

A solution cited to combat the emergence of presidential Prime Ministers is the use of select committees to question the PM's actions. However, in comparison to the constitutional separation of powers and checks and balances that exist in countries such as the United States, this is insignificant, and select committee is drawn from the same legislature as the executive, and has only limited scrutiny of the executive. It also should be noted that British Prime Ministers can be "presidential" since the powers, responsibilites and duties of the British Prime Minister are largely convention. They are not codified or written into one single document, as is often the case with heads of government in other countries.

The Prime Minister:

The presence and appointment of a Prime Minister is the first characteristic of the modern Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the creature of conventions. No express directions have been given as to his rights and no definite limits are set to his power. The office of the Prime Minister is what its holder chooses to make it.

Choice of Prime Minister:

The Sovereign is expected to send for the leader of the party or group of parties that has or can control, a majority in the House of Commons. By the growth of conventions the choice has become formal. The leading parties appoint their party leaders by their respective methods. The Prime Minister is normally is the leader of his party, having either been chosen as Prime Minister because he is the leader of the largest party or is the elected leader because he is a Prime Minister. "Thus the Prime Minister is more powerful than any other Minister, and than most combinations of Ministers but less powerful than the Cabinet collectively".

Functions of Prime Minister:

Formation of Government:

The primary functions of the Prime Minister are to form a government, and to choose and preside over the Cabinet. He gives advice to his ministerial colleagues on matters before they come to the Cabinet, and he is the main channel communication between the Cabinet and the Sovereign, with whom he has a weekly audience. The Prime Minister decides which government departments should be represented in the Cabinet although, by convention, certain departments are always represented. He advises the sovereign on dissolution. It is also for the Prime Minister to decide whether the Cabinet Members should remain in office.

Cabinet meetings:

The Prime Minister has almost total control over conduct of Cabinet. The holding and conduct of Cabinet meetings is a matter for the Prime Minister to decide. Traditionally, full meetings of Cabinet are held twice a week.

Control of parliament:

The Prime Minister is primarily responsible for the organization of the business of the House, even if this work is to the leader of the House. The timing of the Dissolution of Parliament is within the Prime Minister's discretion and there is no requirement, either in law or convention, that the Prime Minister submit his choice of date to the Cabinet.

Securities and Intelligence:

The Prime Minister has special responsibilities in the areas of Securities and Intelligence. The Prime Minister alone can authorize the launching of a nuclear attack by United Kingdom forces. The Prime Minister sees that Cabinet decisions are carried out by the departments. The Cabinet secretariat is under his control.

Appointments:

The Prime Minister has significant powers and influence over the appointment of persons to senior position. Many Crown appointments, in addition to ministerial offices, are on his advice.

Cabinet committees:

In order to facilitate efficiency, the Cabinet is supported by a system of committees, which again, is largely determined by the Prime Minister. In addition, a whole range of committees staffed by civil servants by civil servants exist to complement the work of Ministers.

The Prime Minister's Private Office:

There has never been a Prime Minister's department to the task of organizing co-ordinating on behalf of the Prime Minister. Instead British Prime Minister's team comprises civil service support and non-civil service political support in the form of a specially appointed of team advisers.

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