Political Studies Essay

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Has the Prime Minister become more powerful in recent years? (40)

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the head of government and so exercises many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. According to custom, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, which he or she heads, are accountable for their actions to Parliament, of which they are members by modern convention. The current Prime Minister is David Cameron (of the Conservative Party), who has been in office since 2010, and the Deputy Prime Minister – Nick Clegg, due to the Coalition. During Mr. Cameron’s period in office and also, many Prime Ministers before him like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, there’s been wide spread debate about whether the power of the prime minister has increased.

Within the current government, David Cameron has clearly continued the trend of exploiting his office in order to focus the media on him as an individual. This certainly gives the impression of more individual dominance rather than collegial or collective decision making – as has been the case for other recent PMs But when we consider such developments in terms of actual increases in power for the PM, it may be a matter of style rather than substance.
Cabinet has certainly declined as a full forum for decision-making. e.g. BoE independence was made by the Blair/Brown axis not full cabinet. Brown as PM operated a “kitchen Cabinet” including the likes of Ed Balls, but excluding the Chancellor. Under Cameron, George Osborne and Oliver Letwin appear closer to the PM’s ear than most. Therefore PM power has increased in this sense.
Furthermore, recent PMs have increasingly sought the advice of special advisers. Blair’s press secretary, Alastair Campbell, became known as ‘the real Deputy Prime Minister’. Under Cameron Andy Coulson and Steve Hill have mattered more to the PM than most of Cabinet. These tactics certainly afford the PM more power.
Another recent phenomenon is one whereby the electorate focuses on the head of the government rather than the government as a collective, suggesting that we have a de facto single executive. This might have something to do with the way politics is now reported on TV where the PM gets far more coverage than the rest of their Cabinet and this suggests an increase in PM power.
The personal style of governance of recent PMs also extends to their habit of taking personal control over departmental affairs: Under Blair obvious examples could be Northern Ireland or child poverty. Whilst under Brown, there is strong evidence to suggest that he often overruled members of Cabinet. And the current PM seems to change party and government policy on the hoof, even forcing his health secretary into a U-turn on scrapping NHS Direct while giving a live TV interview. All this supports the idea of an increase in PM power
Then, and perhaps most convincingly in support of the PM power increase thesis, there is Michael Foley’s theory of spatial leadership, where PMs copy the tactics of US presidents and when employed effectively they allow PMs to increase their personal stature. Under Blair perhaps the most significant development was how he focused heavily on media usage and communication tools as part of a US style permanent campaign. “Newsmilking” is also evident with David Cameron. It is no accident that his wife, sometimes referred in the tabloid press as “Sam Cam”, is frequently in the public eye. This presidentialism suggests PM power has increased.
On the other hand, it is important to note that the office of Prime Minister is too much for one person and it is unrealistic to suspect that they will be able to
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