Executive Government UK

4 The Executive Introduction – The Prime Minister and the Cabinet – The Public Service – Conclusion PART I: INTRODUCTION T HE CABINET SYSTEM of government, which provides for the government to be drawn from and accountable to the legislature, was introduced into the Commonwealth Caribbean somewhat belatedly by the Colonial Office in the years following the Second World War, as the apparatus of ‘Crown Colony rule’ was gradually dismantled and the region prepared for independence. Unsurprisingly, having fought so long to attain it, this was the system favoured by the region’s political leaders for their newly independent countries and was, accordingly, enshrined in all the Independence Constitutions. Each thus incorporated, either expressly or by implica-tion, the unwritten conventions that underpinned the operation of the Cabinet system of government as it had been evolving in Britain since the mid-nineteenth century. Under the Cabinet system executive authority is vested in the head of state, while executive power is vested in the Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and such other ministers from among the members of the legislature as the Prime Minister selects. The Cabinet is the principal instrument of policy and it is the Cabinet that is, collectively , charged with the general direction and control of government: deciding issues of policy, both domestic and foreign, and how public money should and should not be spent. Since independence, only one country in the region has departed from this template and that is Guyana, which in 1980 abandoned the tra-ditional Cabinet system in favour of an executive presidency, though it has more recently reverted to a semi-presidential system of government. 102 The Executive In this chapter I will begin by outlining the constitutional framework within which Cabinet government functions for all countries in the region, with the exception of Guyana, which I will deal with separately.

As such, the incumbent wields both legi-slative and executive powers. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the law-making process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of the political party he leads. In his executive capacity, the Prime Minister appoints (and may dismiss) all other cabinet members and ministers, and co-ordinates the policies and activities of all government departments, and the staff of the Civil Service. He acts as the public face and voice of Her Majesty's Government, both at home and abroad. Solely upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the Sovereign exercises many of her statutory and prerogative powers: they include the dissolution of Parliament; high judicial, political, official and Church of England ecclesiastical appointments; and the conferral of peerages, knighthoods, decorations and other honours. Position The position of Prime Minister was not created; it has evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years. Its origins are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement (1688–1720) and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. Early Prime Ministers (1720–1784) were at best ambivalent about that description; many refused to acknowledge or use the title. The position was given little formal recognition and was not mentioned in legal documents. Between 1784 and 1911, numerous accidents of history and political developments led to unofficial but popular acceptance of the office. By the 1830s, the Prime Minister became first among equals in the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Government. By the turn of the 20th century, the modern Premiership had emerged; it had become the pre-eminent position in the constitutional hierarchy vis-a-vis the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet.

• Cabinet. • Cabinet Office. • Cabinet Secretary. • Cabinet committees.

How is the core executive’s policy presented?

Regular briefings