To What Extent Has the Power of the PM increased?

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To What Extent Has The Power of The Prime Minister Increased in Recent Years?

In the last twenty-five years England has had three Prime Ministers. The first was Margaret Thatcher, who came into power in 1979, and resigned in 1990. Then came John Major in 1990, and lost the vote in 1997. Tony Blair became Prime Minster in this year and has successfully stayed in power for two full terms so far. These Prime Ministers all have very different leadership styles. Having said this, the radical policies of Margaret Thatcher, were still continued through Major and Blair.

Margaret Thatcher made less use of her cabinet than her predecessors. Detailed policy work was done in cabinet comities or bilateral meetings with the head of a department. Cabinet meeting were begun with the announcement of the government policy, and some issues were also kept from her cabinet. She was accused of paying greater attention to her advisors than her cabinet. Thatcher was able to construct a cabinet of ideological allies, through the unwillingness of ministers to fight back. By 1990 Thatcher had few loyal allies in the cabinet, which led to her eventual downfall. Within weeks Thatcher had failed to win on the first ballot of the conservative party leadership election. Her unpopular policies, a massive division in the cabinet and low opinion poll ratings lead to her forced resignation. By ignoring the concerns of ministers and bypassing cabinet, she had not strengthened her position, but weakened it. She had an innovative leadership style. She was prepared to risk unpopularity in order to achieve a future goal. Her goals were purely selfish and individual therefore bared a strong imprint. Thatcher appeared to have a lot of power within her time in office. She was able to pass through her radical policies, of course not without opposition, but not enough to make her take a step back.
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John Major adopted a more collegiate style. Cabinet played a greater role in the implementation of government policy. This was what had lacked under the reign of Thatcher. Major appeared to be a weak Prime Minister, both physically and politically. He failed to let the people and his cabinet know what he wanted to achieve and was unable to set a political agenda. Major saw the limitations of his authority and

managed his Cabinet in a way that ensured he stay in power for more than six years. Although he made mistakes he was tactically astute. Major ...

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