The PM is also Head of Government Policy. The PM is overall in control of government policy and chooses which policies they wish to highlight, playdown, or not say at all in the Cabinet meetings. This shows that Cabinet merely discusses the PM’s agenda. They are traditionally influenced on economic and foreign policy decisions. Last year, and this year has seen one of the biggest economic crisis’ in the world for years. Many banks in the UK and US have gone bust and late last year an Icelandic Bank crashed which had millions of UK government money in it. Gordon Brown was set for failure, with many months having to endure media critiscism, yet started to relish in his position after taking centre-stage and leading world leaders by pumping millions in to banks to save them. He has also appointed top civil servants and advisors to these bank committees instead of cabinet ministers, showing his frequent use of them and emphasising his more dominant role over Cabinet therefore asserting his authority as Prime Minister.
Informal groups are another example of supporting Prime Ministerial Government. Blair had a tendancy to use them instead of Cabinet meetings to initiate policy, decide its contents, and how to present it to the public. In these informal meetings it would compose of top Ministers, but also advisors and civil servants the PM highly regarded. These ‘chats’ were often the place where key decisions were made, and then told to the Cabinet. This marginalises the Cabinet with them having a lesser role in policy-formulating and policy-coordinating, however is a reflection and contribution to the centralisation of power around the PM. Under Blair, everything had to go through him – Ministers had to submit speeches, documents and requests to do interviews for clearance showing how his ministers relied on him. Yet Blair didn’t rely fully on his ministers as they did for him; his decision to go to war with Iraq was taken without full cabinet discussion showing the strength of his power and how he acted ‘above’ party policies which showed a similar style to a US President!
During Blair’s leadership many argued in favour of a Presidential model of government like in the US. It suggests that the PM holds a similar degree of power and authority to a US President. The media plays an important factor, with their focus upon the PM is at the expense of the Cabinet colleagues, while the PM takes world stage! At the present time this is highly reinforced as Brown leads in trying to solve the economic crisis, while most of his cabinet ministers are forgotten about. Brown has a highly active role within international relations, meeting with World Leaders about the ‘world recession.’ The newly elected US President Barack Obama and Brown, have a set date in which Obama will visit the UK and meet the PM. Previously Blair had a very high international relations, particularly with his partnership with US President George Bush.
With all the media attention on the PM, many vote a party on the basis of them as they are the key figure. Public support for the PM is an important factor which keeps down Cabinet governemnet, as the PM can successfully lead from the front. Blair was very popular with winning 3 general elections which were called by him, showing his success and popularity compared to that of the Cabinet. Sir William Harcourt once remarked “the office of the PM is what its holder chooses and is able to make of it,” showing it all depends on the PM!
Opponents of Prime Ministerial Government believe that Cabinet government is still alive and in operation. Cabinet government has been a long tradition which dominated the UK executive. The PM was merely “primus inter pares” – first among equals! The functions of the Cabinet are policy making, the supreme control of government and the coordination of government departments. In Cabinet government, it is the case where the PM exerts the same power as everybody else and that decisions are made collectively. There is no denying that the Cabinet are very important and influential in the PMs decisions making and government overall. Without the Cabinet, the PM would be lost as they do a lot of the backbone work for him. They plan the business of Parliament, provide political leadership for the party, parliament and in the country! It is also the arena where most important decisions are registered. The PM relies heavily on their Cabinet, because if they do no have their support, then they will not last long. Last year it looked like some backbenchers were trying to stir up Gordon Browns cabinet so a leadership contest would be announced which was very worrying on his half. It was Margaret Thatcher’s lack of Cabinet support which caused her failure and made her go as they voted a ‘no confidence.’ Therefore they are influential and should be shown respect to, or they will come back with a vengeance.
Within the Cabinet they also have their own set of committees, again emphasising their importance. The committees have many purposes, overall providing a framework for collective consideration and relieving the pressure on the cabinet itself. The Cabinet Secretariat aims to ensure that the business of government is conducted in a timely and effective way and that proper consideration takes place when it is needed before policy decisions are made. Without all the backstage work going on, there would be no cabinet to inform the PM of important event, and thus a powerful part of Government would be missing. Losing key allies from the cabinet can weaken the PMs power and authority as was the case when Tony Blair lost David Blunkett, and Estelle Morris. When Brown came to power he got rid of a few ministers in his Cabinet and replaced them with his supporters showing he knew their importance and wanting them on his side. However in recent times the PM bypasses their cabinet, favouring quick decision making by consulting one or two ministers instead of lengthy, time confusing meeting with other 20 minsiters.
The Core Executive has been another argument put forward in where power lies in government. It has been described as “at the heart of the British government. It contains key institutions and actors concerned with developing policy, coordinating government activity and providing the necessary resources for delivering public goods.” It is basically all those outside connected to the PM who advise and make policy. The Core Executive states that power in not located in any single place, instead everyone works together to keep the government running while linking all the departments together. It is very important however i do not believe it is the overall system which operates today.
In conclusion I agree with the statement and believe the UK now has a system of Prime Ministerial government. In recent hard economic times we need a leader to keep the country up and running, even if it means by-passing the Cabinet!