To what extent does the Prime Minister dominate the UK political system?

The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen but it is he or she who then appoints all the other members of the government this power to hire and fire extends to all the cabinet and to other ministers and it gives the Prime Minister substantial control over the careers of his or her part, MPs and peers. He or she can also create new posts and new departments as well as abolish them, establish committees and policy units and amalgamate existing ones. The Prime Minister has many roles and power he is eligible to appoint ministers and dismiss government ministers In particular cabinet ministers a crucial advantage over colleagues. This is seen as a vital instrument of power for the Prime Minister. Since 19^th century the Prime Minister has automatically been the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister’s power is based on the Royal Prerogative where he or she exercises power on behalf of the monarch.

In this essay I will argue on behalf of how I believe the Prime Minister dominates the political system in the UK. One way in which the Prime Minister dominates and continuously holds his authority is by being the Head of executive. This is the basic idea that he is the leader of the government which may refer him to being the Chief policy maker initially having the role of being completely pre-eminent in making the government’s policy. Through the Royal Prerogative he can make or break ministers and can reshuffle the cabinet to suit his needs or requirements. An example of how this reflects the PM’s dominating role is when Tony Blair made the decision to go ahead and built the millennium Dome when the cabinet decided against it. Even though the announcement was made at the same time as the cabinet meeting it shows that the overall decision is up to the Prime Minister. This suggests that he has the authority to make such changes. However even though he can make quick changes they still have some limitations and Prime Ministers can still be overruled by Cabinet an cannot force policies through powerful, reluctant colleagues. This can show that a meeting might have to take place in some circumstances and if agreement is made it should be followed through.

Additionally another way in which the Prime Ministers authority can dominate the Political System is through the media. The media is often the main source that reflects political views and illustrates what happens in parliament and new manifestos that Prime Ministers have. If the Prime Minister has good speech and charisma then the media often can portray them as a strong leader. This is a great opportunity to influence public opinion and alter people’s decisions on behalf of their political views. An example of how this dominates the Prime Ministers role in the political system is when internationally Gordon Brown was viewed as a good PM and who continuously pumped money into the economic system and was further perceived as a good debater by colleagues. This shows that in fact the media can encourage the public to change their opinions and the Prime Minister can therefore continue to dominate as he or she is being favoured by the people. However an example of how the media may be a limitation to the Prime Ministers dominating role is when Gordon Brown was PM he had no positive press influence and was often compared with Tony Blair and shown as two completely different people. Furthermore when a leader loses the confidence of the public and of the media they become an electoral liability. In such circumstances the ruling party will become unwilling to accept their leadership. for example that of Thatcher when she was removed in 1990.

Thirdly, the Prime Minister has another source that seems to help dominate the political system in the UK which is being head of a political party. It reflects the Prime Ministers authority role through it being the ruling party however being a coalition government. There is no overall majority after an election it is assumed that the PM’s authority stems from leading the largest party or the party able to form a government coalition. The authority comes from the elections of the public and all the legitimacy through votes gives the Prime Minister the power to do things and the party is given the right to govern. A limitation related to this is through the parliamentary majorities and if there is not an overall majority coalition the minority can take away the Prime Ministers authority to govern as they need the full support of all party members to pass legislation. With a minority then you are vulnerable and can’t rely on parliament, John Major found himself in this position and started with a majority of 21 and soon found this whittled away by by-election defeats of his MP’s to other parties. At times he had to rely on the support if a handful of Ulster Unionist MP’s to survive.

In turn, the leader in parliament is also the Prime Minister. As the leader of the largest party In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister effectively controls the lower chamber and through it he also controls parliament itself. The Prime Minister being the Leader of Parliament also helps to dominate the political system in the UK. The Prime Minister is supported by the majority in the House of Commons and can lost authority is support is no longer shown. Although government ministers play a substantial role in debates and parliamentary questioning it is the role of the PM to lead his part in Parliament. Parliament as a whole can bring the government down with the vote of no confidence as the cabinet may lose faith in you. James Callaghan’s Labour Government was removed in 1979 as he lost his Common’s majority. As a result his Labour Government was removed prematurely from office this was because the parliament demised a government by passing a vote of no confidence. However there is a limitation on Prime Ministerial power that relates with being a leader of Parliament and that is the Cabinet. The cabinet as a whole can bring you down for instance in the case of Margaret Thatcher. Both the Cabinet and the party didn’t think she could carry on as Prime Minister in 1990 as she lost leadership of the Conservative Party. As Unity of a party is important this showed how they lost confidence in her and as a Cabinet they lost belief. Another example is when Blair’s authority was slumped after the invasion of the Iraq In 2003 which led to the biggest back bench rebellion in 100 years.

A limitation on Prime Ministerial power is pressure of events. In 1957 Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister when he was asked what seemed to worry him most about the political system. He replied “Events, dear boy, events”. Overall he believed that Prime Ministers had limited control over what happens in the country. Even though they are regarded as the people who run the country this shows how little control they do have. For instance Thatcher initiated the Falklands War of 1992. This benefited from the victory nut has the outcome been different her premiership may have been destroyed and she wouldn’t be able to lead an ideologically united leadership group. An event that seemed to shake society as a whole was the explosions on 7/ 7 in the UK also the Northern Rock going bankrupt and government had to bail them out.

Another Limitation that has an impact on how the Prime Minister dominates the political system in the UK is one of which is an example from when Tony Blair was in government in 1997. He had no problems when he took power as ‘New Labour’ all his allies where known and it was a united group which helped dismiss some of the problems. As a result Blair was able to enjoy years as Prime Minister with total domination of this party and leader of Parliament. However in contrast with his predecessor was John Major. He led a conservative party between 1992-1997 but it was completely split over the issues of Britain’s relationship with Europe and over views related to the economy. In turn a reputation of one of Britain’s weakest Prime Ministers was left on his shoulders. This shows how his dominating role wasn’t forceful enough as his leadership skills for his party wasn’t stop enough.

To conclude the Prime Minister is most definitely without doubt the single most important figure in the UK political system. He is a leader and his part has the majority control of the House of Commons. There are many strengths and limitations to how much authority and power the Prime Minister actually has in the UK. The media may probably be one of the key sources that exercise how much power or how much of a domination role the Prime Minister can have to a country. This is because the media is undoubtedly an incredibly profile in which can influence public opinion and change the peoples political views which can further shake PM’s mentality into trying to use their power to a good advantage. As there is now a coalition government consisting Conservatives-Liberal Democrat there is a Prime Minister alongside a Deputy Prime Minister. Both parties work together in order to dominate the political system and to continue to withhold their authority. The balance of membership between the two parties will approx mirror the balance of the strengths of the two partied in the House of Commons for example Nick Clegg and David Cameron. Many events have happened which have continuously tested how in control Prime Ministers really are.

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