Identify and Discuss the Role of Prime Minister, Giving Specific Examples within the British System of Government.

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Sam McVeigh                28th March 2009

Identify and Discuss the Role of Prime Minister, Giving Specific Examples within the British System of Government.

Most people would agree that the most powerful individual in the British system of government is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister may be head of the government but he is also seen as ‘primus inter pares’ – first among equals. However recent Prime ministers such as Thatcher, Blair and Brown consider themselves to be at least one rank higher than other cabinet ministers. “The exact extent of the power exercised by the Prime Minister, however, is not easy to calculate since the Prime Minister does not govern alone” (Bentley et al, 2008). The main reason the role of the Prime Minister is not easy to define is there is no constitutional definition of the role he plays. The Prime Minister has various roles in the British government system, which coincides to some extent with the administrative divisions of the No.10 Office. The main roles played by the Prime Minister are governed more by convention than any laws or rules and regulations. “The way in which individual Prime Ministers fulfil their roles largely depend on their individual leadership style and personality, however the role is fluid and...Is likely to be determined by day to day events and problems facing the government at the time” (James 1992).

The principal roles of the prime minister are taken from the historical roles of the monarch on a discretionary basis. The Royal Prerogatives are the powers of the Crown and are part of common law. The UK has a constitutional monarchy not an absolute monarchy. This means that the monarchy is impartial. The work that the monarch does in politics is largely symbolic. The work of the monarch within the remit of the royal prerogative is seen as being on behalf of elected ministers. In a modern democracy it is not acceptable that an unelected person should be able to make decisions, at will, without any accountability. Walter Bagehot described the monarchy as being “symbolic and ceremonial” but with little actual power. Today this is even truer. Although the Queen reigns over the UK she does not rule. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party of government but is also an elected Member of Parliament. This makes him ultimately accountable to his political party and more so to his constituents. One major criticism of the use of Royal Prerogative is that in 2003 Tony Blair could have taken the UK to war with Iraq without having the support of the House of Commons by invoking the Royal Prerogative. “In July 2007 the Government published wide-reaching proposals for constitutional reform. The Governance of Britain Green Paper included a number of proposals to reform the Royal Prerogative. The Government intended both to pass powers from the Government to Parliament and make powers exercised under the prerogative subject to greater scrutiny by Parliament. Specific proposals were made for certain elements of the prerogative, such as the deployment of Armed Forces overseas and placing the civil service on a statutory basis. The Government also set out its intentions to conduct a wider review of prerogative powers” (UK Parliament 2008).

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The roles of the Prime Minister can be divided into roles as head of state and roles as head of the government. As head of state, the Prime Minister is in control of the British Armed Forces, as the monarch used to be, but does not actually lead the forces into battle. He ultimately directs the armed forces in their execution of their duty, both domestically and abroad, with the help of the military commanders. He also oversees military intelligence both at home (MI5) and abroad (MI6). Another role as head of state is as a negotiator of foreign ...

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