How can Coalition government affect traditions of the Cabinet system?
“Yes! I know what I have to face. I have to face a coalition. The combination may be successful. Coalitions, although successful, have always found this, that their triumph has been brief. This too I know that England does not love coalitions.” Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
This is a quotation of famous statesman B. Disraeli taken from the speech in House of Commons in 1851. It mainly states that coalitions between parties can be successful but for a short-term as it leads to significant changes.
Historically, the Cabinet is the most powerful decision-making body of the United Kingdom and has certain rules and traditions. Since the last general election provided a Coalition Government, two-party government, which is quite unusual for Britain, there have been made a range of reforms and changes in order to adapt new government to habitual style. This essay will outline in what way and how the coalition government has affected the Cabinet, by analysing and discussing the main features of Coalition government, the Prime Minister’s power, Cabinet and its’ traditions (Lowe, C., Owen, V. et al., 2010). In order to do this it is useful to define what a Coalition government is.
Coalition government or in other words “hung parliament” is known as a balanced parliament formed due to a minority government after general elections. It is unusual and unstable outcome of general election where no party have an overall majority of votes (326 votes). General election of 2010 is an example of it. The Conservatives dominated election with 306 votes, while Labour had 258 votes and Liberal Democrats had 57 votes. (Lowe, C., Owen, V. et al., 2010). The result was a “hung parliament” meaning that the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown remained on his position. However after results were announced the leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats arranged to create a coalition and make a majority government. It is the first Coalition government in the UK after 1916 Coalition. (BBC News, 2010, Aug)
The Coalition and Cabinet government have a number of differences. To understand them we shall define a Cabinet government first. According to Walter Bagehot, the cabinet has combined executive and legislative functions which is “the most powerful body in the state”(Lowe, C., Owen, V. et al., 2010). It is a main decision-making system where the most important questions are discussed and solved. In order to perform successfully all Cabinet members must respect and follow certain principles. First of all, the Prime Minister is considered to be first among equals (or peers), this is also known as “primus inter pares” translated from Latin. This means that he or she has some special importance and authority by his or her colleagues and in the same time formally equal. The Prime Minister also has the power of patronage, to appoint Cabinet Ministers and exercise their power. He or she can allocate portfolios, decide what job and by whom it will be done in Cabinet. As well as the traditional constitutional doctrine which mainly states that the United Kingdom has a Cabinet Government, the doctrine of collective responsibility also one of the main traditional features of the Cabinet. All decision inside the Cabinet must be taken collectively and unanimously, that is why all members should be collegiate and support collective decision (Lowe, C., Owen, V. et al., 2010). This denotes that all members of the Cabinet as well as upholding and promoting government policies, should also be involved and actively participate in policy making area. The only way of showing disagreement for Cabinet ministers is to resign. Examples are, ministers Robin Cook who resigned after “Iraq War” case in March 2003, Nigel Lawson resigned over the reliance of Thatcher on her economic advisers in 1989 as well as Geoffrey Howe who was against pro-European position and resigned in 1990. Thirdly, Collective Responsibility also implies the idea of secrecy, the reticence of important information in order to prevent the creation of gossips and leaks to the media. There were many examples when media revealed disrobing information, one of them- “MPs’ expenses scandal” (The Guardian, 2011). Another important feature is the Cabinet Committees which are also the part of the Cabinet. Originally, Committees were created to reduce the workload of the Cabinet and are strictly classified. Regular meetings between the Prime Minister and secretary are held in Cabinet Committees, called bilateral meetings. Decisions made there have the same power as decisions made in the Cabinet (Lowe, C., Owen, V. et al., 2010). Overall, creation of the Coalition Government was perceived ambiguously and variously commented. "A kind of cross between a bulldog and a Chihuahua” or “They have created a mongrel breed" as it was said by Conservative mayor of London Boris Johnson. (Stratton, A and Booth, B 2010)
