The Role of the British Prime Minister - Essay Example

The role of the British prime minister The role of the British prime minister For what reason has the role of the British Prime Minister been viewed by some critics as increasingly presidential in nature Introduction The prime minister is said to be the most vital unit in the political system of the United Kingdom. The prime minister is believed to be the chief executive of the United Kingdom. Unlike in the present history of the United Kingdom, this office was initially considered less important and therefore it had miniature acknowledgment. This has however changed over time and at the moment, the prime ministerial post is one of the most important and widely recognized units, such that some individuals even argue that the duties and powers of the prime minister override those of the president in some way or the other (Buckley, 2006: pg. 34). The role of the prime minister An individual has to justify some specified qualifications in order for them to be chosen as prime ministers. To start with, they ought to be members of parliament (MPs) before they are chosen to the position. The politician also needs to be a leader of any party so as to qualify as a prime minister. Lastly, for one to become a prime minister they ought to be leaders of a party that has mainstream control of the House of Commons. Once the prime minister has been given the position, he or she is charged with the responsibility of carrying out some duties. These are what are known as the roles of the prime minister in the constitution of the government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister is charged with the obligation of creating the government, leading administrative policies, supervising the cabinet, organizing the government, regulating parliament and to sum up, he or she offers state leadership (Bennister, 2012: pg. 150) Supervising the cabinet The prime minister plays the role of supervising the cabinet in that, he or she is the chairperson of the same cabinet. He or she chairs the cabinet during the meetings in which they meet on an average of once during the week. The agenda to be discussed during the meetings are decided on by the prime minister who also approves the minutes of their meeting. The prime minister apart from convening the cabinet meetings, he spells the time it will last and the type of layout that will be followed (Thomas, 1998:pg.100). Leading administrative policies According to Baldwin, N., (2006: 60), the prime minister synchronizes the government policies with the help of specific ministers and also via the cabinet. The whole process of coordinating the government sets off even before the elections are determined. The person who is seen as the potential prime minister oversees the frameworks of the policy as they are drafted in their party proposal. Once these persons are elected in office, they are mandated to implement the statements that were drawn earlier. Organizing the government The prime minister also plays the role of organizing the government in number of ways. Members of the cabinet in the government are appointed by the prime minister. All those government jobs to be delegated to individuals are also approved by the prime minister in the political structure of the United Kingdom. Another way in which the prime minister organizes the government is through the reshuffles that he makes in the cabinet where certain ministers are moved from one department to another in which they are believed to work efficiently (King, 1985; 415). From the discussion on some of the roles of the prime minister in the United Kingdom, it is apparent that he or she is powerful because of the enormous powers that are bestowed upon them. The fact that the prime minister has an enormous responsibility to carry out may after all depict that powers of the president are miniature when compared to those of the prime minister. The powers of the prime minister, which have continued to increase over time has made the position to be more of presidential than ministerial. This is because of a number of reasons which are looked at below. The prime minister has a role to play and this is appointing of the cabinet. In addition to this role however, the prime minister has backing in some other place where he is allowed to appoint into office the subordinate ministers, high-ranking civil servants, the clerics and judges. The political career of the subordinate ministers only depends with the prime minister. This is so because they will only rise to other levels if they do that which impresses the prime minister. Such powers conferred to the prime minister give him or her opportunity to assign into office the people that will be able to back him and not those who could pose a challenge to his leadership at some point (King, 1985:pg.270). The media also play a role in emphasizing who is the most superior. This is so in that, the prime minister receives the main focus from the media which could otherwise be for the president (Thomas, 1998; 210). The television has a tendency to concentrate on individuals so as to bring to the public’s awareness of the role they play in the society. By so doing therefore, the importance of a prime minister is overstated instead of directing their focus on the cabinet and parliament which are vital organizations in the political field other than the prime minister. The role of the prime minister as a representative of the nation in other countries and at home have been reported to go over limit. This role was initially associated with the president or any individual from the royal family. The international meeting which acts as the bond between Britain and other countries requires the prime minister to be present. This therefore puts the prime minister in the light more than the president who is the head of state (Roger Ellis, 2006: 90). The prime minister was initially answerable to the House of Commons. This was done once a week depending on the time that the prime minister was not occupied with other duties. The numerous changes that the roles and powers of the prime minister have undergone have made them to be notified of the questions they are to be asked before they appear before the committee. These modifications of informing the prime minister beforehand of the questions shows they are viewed as vital personnel in the political system of Britain (Baldwin,2006:pg.97). Over the years in the history of Britain, there has been deterioration in the status of the monarchy. The respect that was accorded to the queen and the royal family in the past has been reported to decline. This decline in the superiority of the monarch has made the prime minister to adopt more functions regarding the head of state thus making them be seen as overriding the presidential roles (Bennister, 2012; 27)). Another reason as to why the prime minister is seen as playing the part of the president is due to the fact that the powers which were vested on the cabinet have kept on decreasing during the political regime of Britain. This thus makes the prime minister to have dominance over the cabinet and its members. On the other hand, one may argue that the powers of the prime minister do not override those of the president because of the limitations they have. As per the 4th report of session 2009-10, the prime minister has a big workload which makes him not to enjoy his position as it is with the president. This is because of the many numbers of roles they have to execute. The workload limits the powers of the prime minister since each particular time they are required by law to be somewhere on official duty (Heffernan, 2005: 76). The powers of the prime minister are also limited by the cabinet and his or her colleagues from various ministries. The issue of the cabinet and the other ministers limit the freedom that the prime minister could otherwise have taken to be a privilege and enjoyed it. The prime minister does need the full support of the cabinet and the ministers for him to work well and for a longer period in the office. A prime minister is likely to lose their seat if they do not receive the support of the cabinet and the ministers. A good example of a fallen prime minister which was caused by the lack of support from the cabinet and ministers was Thatcher in the year 1990 (Baldwin, 2006:pg.56). Conclusion To conclude the argument of whether the powers of the prime minister are presidential in nature, the argument may be either wrong or right. Right because the roles played by the prime minister are seen to be more important than those of a president. The answer may also be wrong because the powers of a prime minister are considered to be informal while those of the president are formal. In my opinion, the role is less presidential in nature because the roles of the prime minister are largely established in a way that they need to have a high sense of ability to coax and also impact than just command. Another important issue to note is that the amount of work done and influence caused is the determining unit of whether the prime minister is powerful than the president. References Baldwin, N., 2006. Executive Leadership and Legislative Assemblies. New York: Psychology Press. Bennister, M., 2012. Prime Ministers in Power: Political Leadership in Britain and Australia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Buckley, S., 2006. The Prime Minister and Cabinet. New York: Edinburgh University Press. Constitution, G. B. P. H. o. L. S. C. o. t., 2010. The Cabinet Office and the centre of Government: 4th report of session 2009-10, report with evidence. New York: The Stationery Office. Heffernan, R. 2005, Exploring (and explaining) the British prime minister. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 7(4), 605-620. King, A. S., 1985. The British Prime Minister. 2nd ed. New York: Duke University Press. Roger Ellis, G. R. R. T., 2006. Britains Prime Ministers. New York: Shepheard-Walwyn. Thomas, G. P., 1998. Prime Minister and Cabinet Today. New York: Manchester University Press. Read More