Prime minister and cabinet

Prime minister's office

A collection of senior officials and political advisors (numbering over 100) who advise the prime minister about policy and implementation, communication, party management and government relations.

Collective ministerial responsibility

A convention that defines the relationships between the executive and Parliament and between ministers and the cabinet. It has two main features: (1) it implies that the government is collectively responsible to Parliament, in the sense that it rests on the confidence of the House of Commons. (2) it implies that all ministers are obliged to support official government policy in public and in Parliament.

Inner cabinet

A group of very senior ministers who are close to the prime minister. Members of such a group can control cabinet by determining policy among themselves.

Kitchen cabinet

A loose and informal group of policy advisors consulted by the prime minister outside the formal cabinet, including senior ministers, officials and special advisors. See Blair's sofa cabinet/government.

Deputy prime minister

A senior cabinet minister who acts for the PM in his or her absence; this position in the UK is neither official nor permanent and does not have set responsibilities. Clegg was one of the first DPM to be given significant power.

Cabinet collegiality

A sense of solidarity among cabinet members borne out of loyalty to the government and an awareness that they stand or fall together.

Vote of confidence

A vote on the life of the government itself; if defeated, the government is obliged to call a general election.

Core executive

An informal network of bodies and actors, at the centre of government, which play a key role in the formulation of policy and the direction of government. The main bodies and actors within the core executive are: the prime minister, leading members of the Prime Minister's Office and other close advisors and confidantes; the cabinet (or at least the 'big beasts'), the main cabinet committees and leading figures within the Cabinet Office; senior officials in the Treasury and other major government departments, and in other bodies including the Bank of England and the security and intelligence services; individuals and outside organisations (including think-tanks) that the prime minister or leading cabinet members may look to for policy advice; key MPs and peers, especially government whips and possibly chairs of important select committees.

Sofa government

Associated with Blair's style of government; he made key decisions with as unofficial advisory group, thereby bypassing the cabinet.

Secretaries of state

Cabinet ministers in charge of a government department.

Think tank

Develops policy proposals and campaigns for their acceptance amongst government and policy-makers.

Primus inter pares

First among equals. Prime ministers are 'first' in the sense that they are the primary representatives of government, both in relation to the monarch and through the right to be consulted about all significant policy issues; 'among equals' in the sense that all members of the cabinet had an equal influence over decisions.

Cabinet secretariat

It is non-departmental in its functions and role and serves the cabinet itself along with its cabinet committees and sub-committees. It sits in the Cabinet Office but it is not the same as the cabinet office. It serves the PM and ministers who chair committees. The cabinet secretary is head of the cabinet secretariat.

Cabinet manual

It sets out the main laws, rules and conventions affecting the conduct and operation of government.

Parliamentary under-secretaries of state

Junior to ministers of state and not members of the cabinet, although they may serve on cabinet committees.

Ministers of state

Junior to the secretaries of state but senior to other ministers and PPSs; they are not usually in the cabinet, a common exception being the chief secretary to the Treasury.

The quad

Meetings with Cameron, Clegg and their two closest senior cabinet colleagues, the Chancellor George Osborne and Danny Alexander. It was an attempt to ensure unity between the coalition partners are also evident in the fact that there is a Liberal Democrat presence in every government department and in the coalition's use of cabinet committees.

Political cabinet

Not a formal part of government as members do not have ministerial roles, do not attend weekly cabinet meetings and so are not bound by collective ministerial responsibility.

Cabinet government

One of the key constitutional principles within the UK political system. It developed in the 19th century alongside the convention of collective responsibility. It has three central features: (1) the cabinet 'fuses' the executive and legislative branches of government, as its members head government departments but are also drawn from and accountable to Parliament. (2) the cabinet is the senior executive organ. It controls the policy-making process and makes all major government decisions. (3) within the cabinet, policy is made democratically with each member's views carrying equal weight. The prime minister is therefore merely 'first among equals'.

Transactional leaders

Style of leadership - leaders who act as 'brokers', concerned to uphold the collective face of government by negotiating compromises and balancing rival individuals, factions and interests against one another. Example - Edward Heath and John Major.

Laissez-faire leaders

Style of leadership - leaders who are reluctant to interfere in matters outside their personal responsibility. They tend to have a 'hands off' approach to cabinet, government and party management. Example - Alec Douglas Home.

Transformational leaders

Style of leadership - leaders who inspire or are visionaries. They tend to be motivated not only by strong ideological convictions, but they also have the personal resolution and political will to put them into practice. Example - Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Bureaucracy

The administrative machinery of government; literally it means 'rule by officials'.

Spin

The biased or distorted presentation of information so as to gain a desired response; being 'economical with the truth'. Use of leaks or unattributable briefings; vetting of information before released; feeding stories to sympathetic media; release information close to media deadlines to prevent vetting; release bade news when other events dominate.

Cabinet office

The body that services the cabinet system, through the cabinet secretariat, and is responsible for co-ordinating policy across Whitehall departments and ensuring effective policy delivery; the nerve centre of government.

Executive

The branch of government that is responsible for the implementation of laws and policies made by Parliament.

Official executive

The bureaucracy - the administrative machinery of government; 'rule by officials'. This is composed of civil servants and its job is to provide policy advice and to implement government policy.

Cabinet system

The cabinet and the network of bodies linked to it, notably committees, sub-committees and the Cabinet Secretariat.

Cabinet

The committee of leading ministers which is empowered to make official government policy.

Individual ministerial responsibility

The convention that defines the relationship between ministers and their departments. It has two main features: (1) it implies that ministers are responsible to Parliament for the policies and actions of their departments. (2) it implies that civil servants are responsible to their ministers.

Political executive

The government of the day. It is composed of ministers and its job is to take overall responsibility for the direction and co-ordination of government policy.

Patronage

The granting of favours or privileges; usually involves control over jobs and appointments.

Prime minister

The head of the government and chair of the cabinet.

Cabinet secretary

The most senior civil servant.

Leadership style

The strategies and patterns of behaviour through which a leader seeks to achieve his or her goals.

Presidentialism

The tendency for political leaders to act increasingly like executive presidents, through the rise of personalised leadership.

Spatial leaders

The tendency of prime ministers to distance themselves from their parties and governments by presenting themselves as 'outsiders' or developing personal ideological stance - 'Thatcherism' or 'Blairism'.

Civil servants

They are appointed government officials who provide ministers with policy advice and implement government policy. They are: appointed officials, politically neutral, permanent, anonymous, work in departments, advise on policy, responsible to minister.

Cabinet committees

They are sub-committees of the full cabinet, which consider particular aspects of government policy. They have been used in greater numbers since 1945, their benefit being that the cabinet works more quickly and efficiently in smaller groups composed of relevant ministers. Cameron set up the Coalition Committee in 2010 whose role was to manage the coalition by providing a forum for reviewing and resolving disputes between its partners.

Ministers

They run government departments, make policy and oversee the work of civil servants. They are appointed by the prime minister, usually from the ranks of the majority party in the House of Commons. They must be MPs or peers, emphasising that the UK executive is a 'parliamentary' executive.

Prime ministerial government

Tthe principal alternative to the theory of cabinet government. Crudely, it suggests that the prime minister has displaced the cabinet as the apex of the executive. It has three features: the prime minister 'fuses' the legislative and executive branches of government, in that he or she is drawn from and accountable to Parliament and also, as chief executive, controls the administrative machinery of government; the prime minister dominates the policy-making process. He or she makes major government decisions and exerts influence (potentially) over all policy areas; the cabinet is a subordinate body. It is no Ionger a meaningful policy-making organ but, rather, a source of advice and support for the prime minister.

Parliamentary private secretaries

Unpaid 'eyes and ears' for senior ministers; officially they are not members of the government.

Political advisors

Work in a supporting role to the government and are described as 'temporary civil servants'. They are political appointees who are loyal to the governing party and even to particular ministers. Blair's government had a large number and although the Coalition government pledged to significantly reduce the number, Cameron still employed nearly 70.