Evaluate the view that the Prime Minister has too much power.
This essay will evaluate the extent to which the UK prime minister has too much power to
ultimately conclude that our prime minister lacks significant powers in UK parliament.
One may argue that the UK prime minister does have too much power as they hold powers
of patronage. This is the power of the prime minister to dictate the composition of cabinet
and who is appointed as ministers. The prime minister has powers over government in the
form of cabinet reshuffles- this makes ministers highly vulnerable to job loss. For example,
under May Andrew Lansley was replaced or his divisive reforms to the NHS as a secretary of
state for health. Another example is Gove who was demoted due to chis controversial
education policies and strained relationship with teachers. One significantly powerful prime
minister in asserting such powers of patronage was under Johnson’s government where
Sajid David was forced to resign and replaced by a more obedient minister- Rishti Sunak.
Therefore, through the ability of the prime minister to assert dominance over cabinet and
establish a government suitable to meet their needs and policy aims, the prime minister can
be viewed as having too much power. However, it could be argued that the prime ministers’
powers are significantly limited by the overall party image and balance. The prime minister
is limited in their powers of patronage where the prime minister must appoint ministers
who balance out party opinion as May did by including Brexiteers and Remainers in her
cabinet. Similarly, Blair had to appoint John Prescott to reflect Old Labour in his New Labour
cabinet whilst Cameron found it hard to reshuffle Iain Duncan Smith. This is indicates the
prime ministers powers are likely to be hindered by the overall ideological positioning of a
party- they ultimately must ensure those most opposed to them are kept within close reach.
Therefore, the prime minister is not too powerful. Overall, whilst the prime minister can be
viewed as having too much control- particularly in their ability to dominate who sits in
cabinet. These powers are ultimately limited by ideological and political aspects that deem
them at the mercy of party politics.
Despite this, others may argue that the prime ministers’ power is too expansive given they
can dominate the remainder of parliament. When a prime minister holds a large common
majority, they face very few limits in their power. One example of a prime minister with too
much power is Tony Blair who held 418 Labour seats in parliament in a land-slide victory for
the party. Blair’s government was significantly powerful in passing laws given that over his
10 year period in power Blair only lost four votes and only one in his first eight years. The
prime minister is able to dominate through use of 3-line whips and carrots/sticks which
made opposing the prime minister unfavourable for most MPs in the Labour party. Similarly,
Margaret Thatcher, who was classed as the ‘Iron Lady’ ruled and dominated her party and
as a result dominated parliament forming a significantly powerful prime ministerial reign.
Therefore, prime ministers have too much power as their large electoral power deems
scrutiny of the prime minister extremely difficult and most importantly ignored. However,
This essay will evaluate the extent to which the UK prime minister has too much power to
ultimately conclude that our prime minister lacks significant powers in UK parliament.
One may argue that the UK prime minister does have too much power as they hold powers
of patronage. This is the power of the prime minister to dictate the composition of cabinet
and who is appointed as ministers. The prime minister has powers over government in the
form of cabinet reshuffles- this makes ministers highly vulnerable to job loss. For example,
under May Andrew Lansley was replaced or his divisive reforms to the NHS as a secretary of
state for health. Another example is Gove who was demoted due to chis controversial
education policies and strained relationship with teachers. One significantly powerful prime
minister in asserting such powers of patronage was under Johnson’s government where
Sajid David was forced to resign and replaced by a more obedient minister- Rishti Sunak.
Therefore, through the ability of the prime minister to assert dominance over cabinet and
establish a government suitable to meet their needs and policy aims, the prime minister can
be viewed as having too much power. However, it could be argued that the prime ministers’
powers are significantly limited by the overall party image and balance. The prime minister
is limited in their powers of patronage where the prime minister must appoint ministers
who balance out party opinion as May did by including Brexiteers and Remainers in her
cabinet. Similarly, Blair had to appoint John Prescott to reflect Old Labour in his New Labour
cabinet whilst Cameron found it hard to reshuffle Iain Duncan Smith. This is indicates the
prime ministers powers are likely to be hindered by the overall ideological positioning of a
party- they ultimately must ensure those most opposed to them are kept within close reach.
Therefore, the prime minister is not too powerful. Overall, whilst the prime minister can be
viewed as having too much control- particularly in their ability to dominate who sits in
cabinet. These powers are ultimately limited by ideological and political aspects that deem
them at the mercy of party politics.
Despite this, others may argue that the prime ministers’ power is too expansive given they
can dominate the remainder of parliament. When a prime minister holds a large common
majority, they face very few limits in their power. One example of a prime minister with too
much power is Tony Blair who held 418 Labour seats in parliament in a land-slide victory for
the party. Blair’s government was significantly powerful in passing laws given that over his
10 year period in power Blair only lost four votes and only one in his first eight years. The
prime minister is able to dominate through use of 3-line whips and carrots/sticks which
made opposing the prime minister unfavourable for most MPs in the Labour party. Similarly,
Margaret Thatcher, who was classed as the ‘Iron Lady’ ruled and dominated her party and
as a result dominated parliament forming a significantly powerful prime ministerial reign.
Therefore, prime ministers have too much power as their large electoral power deems
scrutiny of the prime minister extremely difficult and most importantly ignored. However,
