The Cabinet

Learning Objectives

• To identify the current post holders of the 23 Cabinet positions

• To evaluate how representative the cabinet is• To explain the key roles and functions of the Cabinet

Meet the CabinetTraffic Light

Question Challenge

What are the names of the cabinet ministers?What party do they belong to?

What is their role/position in the cabinet?

Where did the Cabinet come from?• The cabinet has its origins in the Privy Council set up to advise

the King • The Cabinet developed in the eighteenth century and, under the

Hanoverian kings, it met regularly without the king being present• Though the Cabinet came to work as a distinct body, the

membership nonetheless was determined by the king

With the widening of the franchise and the growth of parliament the cabinet broke free of the control

of the monarch in the 19th century

What is the modern Cabinet?• The Cabinet consists of only the most senior ministers in the

government. • Normally each government department has as its most senior

minister a secretary of state who is a member of the cabinet. • Within government departments there are more junior ministers,

such as under-secretaries of state or ministers of state, who are responsible for a particular part of the work of their department.

• Themes junior ministers are not in the cabinet.• Not all members of the cabinet are heads of government

departments, some cabinet ministers have other, non-departmental responsibilities.

• They include the government chief whip and the leader of the House of Commons, as well as so-called ministers without portfolio, who may have some important party function.

• One of the key jobs of a PM is to select their cabinet. It shapes the political direction of the government and determines how successful it will be. It is also an instrument of control for the PM. The power to appoint and to dismiss cabinet members is called patronage. This allows the PM to control the top level of his party as every minister in the party owes their position to the PM and therefore should lose it if he says so. Also, MPs can get promoted by impressing the PM.

• When appointing his cabinet he has two decisions to make:Will he choose a ‘balanced’ cabinet which contains varied

political opinions or one that ideologically united?Which individuals should fill the 22 spots in the cabinet?

Cabinet Formation

• You are David Cameron and you need to appoint a cabinet.

• Make a list of the 8 types of people you might appoint and the brief reason why.

MERITS available if you can then give an example of these type of

cabinet appointments.For example:A personal friend he wants to be close to (Cameron – Phillip Hammond)

WWDD? What would Dave do?

He may chose close political allies who have been guaranteed a post (Brown: Jack Straw, Cameron: George Osbourne)

He may chose an individual who can represent an important section of the party (Brown: Alan Johnson – TU, Cameron: Theresa May – right wing)

He may decided that a potential ‘rebel’ who has great ability and is widely respected who would be silenced by collective responsibility (Brown: John Denham)

He may identify some individuals with potential and have the ability to manage a department (Cameron: Oliver Letwin)

He may decide on a personal friend who he wishes to be close too (Brown: Ed Balls, Cameron: Phillip Hammond)

Some individuals that are popular figures with public and media (LD: Vince Cable)

A few choices will be based on a desire to retain the political identity of new government so individuals would be brought into the cabinet who symbolise the

ideology of the government (Cameron: Iain Duncan-Smith)

Some people would be brought into the cabinet if they were considered ‘good at their job’ (Cameron: Kenneth Clark)

Cabinet Government

• Definition: A system of government where the cabinet is the central policy-making body.

• Cabinet used to represent the collective identity of the government.

• All important domestic/ many foreign policy decisions were made within cabinet.

• Any disputes within the government would be resolved within the cabinet.

• PM = “primus inter pares’ (first among equals), giving him a higher status. This also meant he could be outvoted within cabinet.

• In summary: cabinet considered to be the centrepiece of the government and its supreme policy-making institution.

Functions of the Cabinet

Dictionary Corner

• Marginalisation is a social process by which a section of population within a larger society is excluded from meaningful participation in that society.

• During 1960s, 70s and 80s, cabinet government appeared to operate in the traditional way, however, secretly important rivals to cabinet power were emerging.

Find the definition…

MARGINALISATION

How has the cabinet been marginalised?The personal authority and power of the PM alone had grown in contrast to the collective power of the cabinet in preceding years.

Growing tendency for great departments of state, such as the Treasury, Home Office, Foreign Office, Department of Education and Skills, etc. Growing influence in cabinet affairs.

The cabinet itself had become something of a ‘network’, with meetings being ceremonial more so than anything else. The real work tended to occur elsewhere, meaning that the cabinet’s involvement in actual work tended to be minimal.

Shift in policy-making functions to 10 Downing Street itself, therein extending Prime ministerial control and subverting any real cabinet power.

PM still conducts much government business on a bilateral business, insofar as reaching agreements with ministers on policy, prior to meetings, and then presenting the decision to the full cabinet.

Weaknesses of the Cabinet

PM patronage means he is now dominant - as most posts are determined by him, so members need to stay loyal

Most decisions made in committeeMeetings are shorter and state managed. They can be as

little as 45 minutes long. This doesn’t lend itself to getting a great amount of work done in a meeting.

Large departments have become more independent, which can lead to a lack of cohesion in gov’t.

More decisions are made in bilateral meetingsMuch decision making has moved to the 10 Downing

Street Organistion

How representative is the cabinet?

Position Name Party Age Gender Oxbridge Ethnicity

Use these websites:http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/government-and-opposition1/her-majestys-government/https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers Complete the table below by gathering information from the short biographies and other websites.

Once you have this information you need to assess how representative the cabinet is.Remember the population statistics for the Composition of Parliament project? Look at them and compare the composition of the cabinet against the UK population and parliament.Present your analysis in 1 A4 page including;- the overall statistics for cabinet, parliament and population- a comparison of the statistics- a justification of your argument (i.e. the cabinet is/is not representative

because)

Individual Ministerial Responsibility

Spotlight on…

According to IMR:• Ministers are individually

responsible for the work of their departments and are answerable to Parliament for all their departments activities

• They are expected to accept responsibility for any failure in administration, any injustice to an individual or any aspect of policy which may be criticised in parliament, whether personally or not

‘The convention that a minister should resign if their department makes

a serious political or personal error. In

practice, this usually means that a minister is

responsible to Parliament and must face criticism

and questioning.’

Individual Ministerial Responsibility

Spotlight on…

Examples of different cases where a member of the cabinet has resigned for differing reasons:• Some may find that the pressures of high office are too much for them, for

example Estelle Morris.• Others may find themselves isolated from the government, out of step with

policies thus unable to continue to support the ‘party line’. E.g. Robin Cook following the Iraq War in 2003.

• Some members are not deemed to be doing well enough by the Pm and are thus removed during a ‘cabinet re-shuffle’.

• Some members are forced to resign after a particular scandal. E.g. David Laws (LD MP) resigned after information became public over his MPs expenses.

• Stephen Byers lost his job in 2002 due to mistakes made within his department.

EXAMPLE ZONE: Individual Ministerial Responsibility

• You are going to compile a list of recent examples of individual ministerial responsibility from the Coalition (2010-present).

• Ensure there is a brief explanation of the circumstances of the resignation.

Collective Ministerial Responsibility

Spotlight on…

• This principle has since been modified with the introduction of the 2010 Coalition.

• On issues where there is no agreement between the coalition partners, there is an agreement whereby ministers can express their own party’s views.

• E.g. the coalition disagree about whether Britain should renew its Trident nuclear weapon system and over the desirability of promoting nuclear energy. The LDs oppose the development while the Conservatives see it as key element in the battle against climate change.

‘In the UK all cabinet decisions

must be collectively supported by all members of the government, at least in public. It also implies that

the whole government stands and falls, as one, on the decisions made by the government.’

Cabinet Committees• Although pre-existing since 1920s, not fully utilised until emergence in 1960s.• Since then, have taken over from the full cabinet with regards to policy and decision-

making. Cabinet Committees consist of a group of around five cabinet ministers, who meet regularly to discuss a given area of government policy.

• However, a decision that isn’t considered to be of great strategic importance and would not affect more than one government department will be made only within the department itself; most important decisions would require wider approval.

• Committees can be permanent in nature (e.g. Economy and Defence), whilst others can exist only temporarily, dealing with policy matters that may not be long-lasting (e.g. Olympic Games).

• The larger areas of policy sometimes also require highly specialised sub-committees, which have the role of reporting back to the full committee.

• January 2010, key committees: Border and migration, Economy, Environment and Energy, Europe, Food, Justice and Crime, Science and Innovation, Trade.

• Decisions are often made now from within the committee, with approval tending to be automatic when a recommendation is passed up to the full cabinet.

• The growth in the number of committees has the effect of increasing prime-ministerial control, with the PM being able to control both the creation of committees, and who is involved with them.

Key Questions

5 mark EXAM QUESTIONS

Outline 2 functions of the cabinet.

What is cabinet government?

What is prime ministerial government?

Homework

• Ministers and Civil Servants (Independent Study)

Match the Minister!Match the photo of the minister to their name and job title.

Match the Minister!Match the photo of the minister to their name and job title.

Match the Minister!Match the photo of the minister to their name and job title.

Match the Minister!Match the photo of the minister to their name and job title.

Post Member

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service David Cameron MP (Con)

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council (Cabinet Office) (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform)

Nick Clegg MP (LD)

Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State William Hague MP (Con)

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne MP (Con)

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander MP (LD)

Home Secretary Theresa May MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable MP (LD)

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove MP (Con)

THE CABINET

Post Member

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Owen Paterson MP (Con)

Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP (LD)

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey MP (LD)

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Maria Miller MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers MP (Con)

Secretary of State for Wales David Jones MP (Con)

Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Lord Hill of Oareford CBE (Con)

THE CABINET

Also attend Cabinet meetingsMinister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office) Kenneth Clarke QC MP (Con)

Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal Andrew Lansley MP (Con)

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip Sir George Young MP (Con)

Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Cabinet Office) Francis Maude MP (Con)

Minister for Government policy (Cabinet Office) Oliver Letwin MP (Con)

Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Education) David Laws MP (LD)

Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office) Grant Shapps MP (Con)

Senior Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government)

Baroness Warsi (Con)

Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (Universities and Science) (Jointly with the Department for Education)

David Willetts MP (Con)

Also attend Cabinet meetings when requiredAttorney General Dominic Grieve QC MP (Con)