Describe the main powers of the PM

are few nationalised industries left, the Prime Minister is given the

authority to appoint the chairmen and women of such industries. They are

given the power to appoint top civil servants, ambassadors, bishops and

judges, although the appointment of judges is usually delegated to the Lord

Chancellor who has more expertise in this area. The sixth power is that of

decisions over the Ministerial Code which overlaps with the dismissal and

reshuffle of the government ministers. A further power is setting the agenda

for Cabinet Meetings, forming Cabinet Committees and choosing whether or not

to circulate minutes or papers from private meetings. A similar power is

that of the publishing of information to the media and also announcing it to

the MP's. As already mentioned, Tony Benn sees international relations as a

major power of the PM. The final power of the Prime Minister is to terminate

a Parliament or government after gaining authority from the queen, who

doesn't really have any powers to disagree.

Currently there is debate within political circles and the media over

whether we have a prime ministerial government where the Prime Minister

takes direct party and is likened to a President rather than the PM. The

electorate now tend to vote for a party based upon the party leader, the

potential PM, rather than the local MP in the constituency where they cast

their vote.

Take two of these powers and explain why they are important

The Prime Minister has considerable powers of political patronage.

This is no more clearly demonstrated than in the power of appointment

to and dismissal from political office within the government. Once the

Queen has appointed the Prime Minister, they are at liberty to form an

administration of over one hundred government posts. However, the

reality of political power means that there are always those who would

automatically be given high-level posts in any government. These are

mainly senior figures within the governing party such as Gordon Brown,

Jack Straw and David Blunkett in the current Labour government. The

Prime Minister of the day also has to consider other factors when

distributing ministerial posts, such as giving the government the

right balance of women for example, the right geographical balance so

that the main areas of the country are seen to be represented at the

highest level of government, the right balance with the age of

Ministers, as well as remembering loyal friends. So, although the

Prime Minister can do virtually as he or she wants when making

appointments to government they must always remember to make the right

political calculations.

They hold significant power and patronage, which derives from the

unique position in advising the reigning Monarch. The Prime Minister

can advise with significant influence on a whole range of public

appointments that are made in the name of the Crown. For example,

senior posts within the Church of England the Civil Service and

government departments and many other key posts within the public

sector.

The Prime Minister holds considerable power in government. It could be

argued that a strong Prime Minister such as Margaret Thatcher was able

to dominate government and the political agenda in Britain for many

years. For example, the Prime Minister controls government

appointments, Cabinet agendas in meetings and committees, the Prime

Minister has access to the best advice and the most secret

intelligence information within government.

The PM of course holds considerable power within Parliament. However,

as with Mrs Thatcher, it was shown that it is possible for a Prime

Minister to be dismissed by government ministers and colleagues. In

general however, all peacetime Prime Ministers have generally

exercised dominance within their own parliamentary party for as long

as they have been able to occupy high office and maintain the support

and loyalty of their own backbench Members of Parliament.

In terms of party political power, the Prime Minister can determine

through their personality and performance the future fortunes of their

party and the political futures of many of their backbench Members of

Parliament. The classic example of this is demonstrated in the power

of the Prime Minister to recommend to the Monarch the timing of the

dissolution of Parliament. The exercise of this aspect of Prime

Ministerial power can have a significant impact one way or the other

on the political fortunes and destiny of the party or individual

Members of Parliament concerned.

References

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