- Preeminent: Automatically having four institutional powers.
- Legal head of government e.g appointing ministers
- Leadership of the government e.g setting the policy agenda.
- The Prime Minsters Office
- Setting the political agenda e.g through the party and the media.
- All PMs are preeminent because they are primus inters pares. (first among equals)
- Some PMs become predominant because they are popular and this gives this them a huge mandate e.g Blair.
- Major, Cameron and May were not predominant.
- Thatcher won the Falklands War which made her predominant.
- Blair dropped Clause 4 which also made him predominant.
Power of
the PM and Cabinet to Dictate Events:
Harold
Wilson – Success & Failures:
- Success – Social Reform: Divorce Reform Act 1969 & Race Relations as well as the introduction of the Open University. Was seen to be following public opinion and this made Wilson popular.
- Failure – European Integration: Was seen among Labour members as a “capitalist club” and Wilson called a referendum and suspended CCR. Remain won but within 6 years the Labour Party had split over the issue and this continues to struggle many PMs.
Margaret
Thatcher – Successes & Failures:
- Success – Trade Union Reform: Cabinet members opted for slow, gradual change but Thatcher used her power of patronage to remove the wets and major reforms such as the secret ballot were introduced. Thatcher used her party in order to privatise BT, British Airways and British Gas.
- Failures – Poll Tax: A tax replacing community charge. People saw that the rich were paying less than the poor. Thatcher continued to let it through despite opposition. People rioted and many did not pay. Checks within the cabinet system failed and local authorities were not consulted. Electoral damaged was caused and Thatcher was removed.
Tony Blair
– Successes & Failures:
- Successes – Constitutional Reform: Took ideas from previous Labour leader, John Smith, and worked in Cabinet Committees with Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats). Later on, he regretted introducing the Freedom of Information and the botched result of the reduced role for the Lord Chancellor. He did play a major part in the Northern Ireland Peace Process in the Good Friday Agreement.
- Failures – Invasion of Iraq: Coloured by the legacy of Bush. Blair claimed that within 45 mins, WMD could destroy the country. He went into Iraq in the end. Reports later emerged that the Cabinet had been consulted 24 times on the issue but lacked key documents. In 2016, the Chilcot Report emerged claiming that other policy options had also not been consulted. This coloured Blair’s legacy and it ultimately cost him his time as PM. The whole debate sparked arguments that informed Cabinet discussion was needed and a spatial or Presidential style of government did not work in the UK.