PROJECT REPORT

ON
“POSITION OF PRIME-MINISTER IN UK”

SUBMITTED TO:
MR. ASHUTOSH AHIRE
(FACULTY MEMBER IN POLITICAL SCIENCE)

SUBMITTED BY:
Shantanu Vaishnav
B.A.LL.B. (HONS.) STUDENT
SEMESTER- IV, SECTION- B, ROLL NO. – 142.

SUBMITTED ON:
18TH MARCH, 2018.

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

UPARWARA, POST- ABHANPUR, NEW RAIPUR-

492002(CHHATTISGARH)
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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work entitled “POSITION OF PRIME-MINISTER IN UK”

submitted to the Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur is the original work done by

me under the guidance of MR Ashutosh Ahire, Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

and this project has not performed on the basis for the award of any Degree or diploma and

similar project if any.

Shantanu Vaishnav

Semester – IV

Section – B

Roll No. – 142

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I, Shantanu Vaishnav, feel myself elated, as it gives me immense pleasure to come with the

work on topic, ““Position of Prime-minister in UK””. Words fail to express my deep sense

of glee to my teacher, MR. Ashutosh Ahire, who enlightened me on my every difficulty in

completion of task. I acknowledge the blessings and support which my mother and father

gave in finishing of this task.

I would like to forward my hearty thanks to my University and Vice-Chancellor for providing

all the necessary requirements which aided me to achieve my goal. I also thank Librarian

HNLU, Raipur, for assisting me and allowing me to use the library of the University.

I feel a deep sense of thankfulness to all my seniors, my friends who helped me in achieving

my target.

Much Obliged,

Shantanu Vaishnav

Semester – IV

Section – B

Roll No. – 142

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Declaration ---------------------------------------------------------------- I

Acknowledgement-------------------------------------------------------- II

Chapterisation

• Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------- 1-3
• History --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4-12
• Powers and Functions -----------------------------------------------------13- 15
• Position of Uk prime minister in comparison to US president -------16-18
• Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
• Bibilography--------------------------------------------------------------------20
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CHAPTER- 1

INTRODUCTION
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (informally abbreviated to PM) is the head of
government of the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister directs both the executive and the
legislature, and together with their Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior ministers, most of
whom are government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and
actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate.
The office of Prime Minister is one of the Great Offices of State. The current holder of the
office, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July
2016.

The office is not established by any statute or constitutional document but exists only by long-
established convention, which stipulates that the monarch must appoint as Prime Minister the
person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is
typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of
seats in that chamber. The position of Prime Minister was not created; it evolved slowly and
erratically over three hundred years due to numerous acts of Parliament, political
developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical
perspective. The origins of the position 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. Although the Sovereign was not stripped of the ancient prerogative
powers and legally remained the head of government, politically it gradually became necessary
for him or her to govern through a Prime Minister who could command a majority in
Parliament.

By the 1830s the Westminster system of government (or cabinet government) had emerged;
the Prime Minister had become primus inter pares or the first among equals in the Cabinet and
the head of government in the United Kingdom. The political position of Prime Minister was
enhanced by the development of modern political parties, the introduction of mass
communication (inexpensive newspapers, radio, television and the internet), and photography.
By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged; the office had become
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the pre-eminent position in the constitutional hierarchy vis-à-vis the Sovereign, Parliament and
Cabinet.

Prior to 1902, the Prime Minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his
government could form a majority in the Commons. However, as the power of the aristocracy
waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always
sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister's authority was
further enhanced by the Parliament Act 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of
Lords in the law-making process.

The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil
Service. Certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime
Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. The status of the position as
Prime Minister means that the incumbent is consistently ranked as one of the most powerful
and influential people in the world.

CHOICE OF PRIME MINISTER

• The Sovereign chooses the Prime Minister. Conventions ensure that in most cases the
“choice” is forma, for the Sovereign is expected to send for the leader of the party or group
of parties that has, or can control, a majority in the House of Commons. The choice became
formal owing to the development of the party system.
• If the Prime Minister dies in office or retires on personal grounds, such as ill health or old
age, the sovereign has really no discretion in the common case where the government has
an absolute majority and one other Cabinet Minister in the Commons is obviously regarded
as ranking next to the Prime Minister. In this way Neville Chamberlain succeeded Baldwin
in 1937.
• A retiring Prime Minister is probably not entitled to proffer advice as to his successor, but
he can make his views known before-hand, and anyway the sovereign is free to consult him
and other members of the government party.
• There are exceptional circumstances when the sovereign really has exercised a personal
discretion within limits; and this is perhaps the most important function of the sovereign at
the present day.
• The Prime Minister is normally the leader of his party, having either been chosen as Prime

Minster because he is Prime Minister. He is primarily responsible for the organization of

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the business of the House, even if 9as is now usual) this work is delegated to the Leader of

the House. In the House he is expected to speak in debates, and to answer questions on

general government policy, the future business of the House and any residual matters
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CHAPTER- 2
HISTORY

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PREMIERSHIP

The so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 helped produce a new power-balance within the
English constitution. Monarchs became more dependent upon Parliament to obtain tax
revenues and pursue their favoured policies, while the House of Commons was establishing its
dominance over the House of Lords. This changed constitutional structure created a potential
opening for a politician who could deliver control of Parliament for the monarch. One man in
particular, operating from the position of a Member of the Commons, not the Lords, managed
to exploit this opportunity: Sir Robert Walpole.

The title ‘prime minister’ was originally a term of abuse rather than a description of an official
role. It implied that an individual subject had risen improperly above others within the royal
circle, and had echoes of a political institution imported from France, England’s great enemy.
When Robert Harley, a favourite of Queen Anne (1702-1714), was impeached in 1715, one of
the charges against him was that he was a prime minister. The prevailing view at this time was
that monarchs should be their own prime ministers.

The historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote that Walpole was ‘as much the first modern Prime Minister
we should recognize as Adam was the first man’. Walpole had a long tenure as First Lord of
the Treasury (1721-1742) and became the dominant figure within government from around
1730. His ability to carry crown business through Parliament ensured the support of first
George I and, from 1727, George II. Their backing enabled Walpole to influence official
appointments and gave him access to money, both of which could be traded for support in
Parliament. He exerted further influence over public business by avoiding the use of the large,
full Cabinet of around a dozen senior figures for serious business, preferring to operate with an
inner circle of five or fewer key supporters. Moreover, through his control of the Treasury
Walpole was able to extend his power throughout the country and help ensure that
parliamentary elections – in which only a tiny proportion of men (and no women) could then
vote – produced the desired outcome.

However, the idea of an official office of Prime Minister remained taboo. In 1741, when the
nature of his government was under attack, Walpole told the Commons
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“I unequivocally deny that I am sole and prime minister.”

A controversial public figure, he was targeted by a literary grouping whose members –

including John Gay, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift – labelled themselves the ‘Scribblers
Club’. In Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels Walpole was parodied as ‘Flimnap, the Treasurer’; while
in Gay’s musical play the Beggar’s Opera, a highwayman character, Robin of Bagshot, had
aliases including ‘Bob Booty’ – a nickname which became attached to Walpole, playing on his
reputation for corruption. There was an attempt to impeach Walpole after his fall from power
in 1742, but the parliamentary ‘Committee of Secrecy’ set up to investigate his financial
activities could not construct a case against him. As later became the norm for Prime Ministers,
the ultimate sanction deployed against him was not legal, but political: removal from office.

THE INSTITUTION OF PRIME MINISTER IS ENTRENCHED

In the decades that followed the fall of Walpole it was not always clear whether there was a
Prime Minister at any given time, because the post was not yet firmly established in practice
nor officially recognised. But other political leaders built upon the methods Walpole pioneered,
usually acting in the role of Prime Minister while officially holding the post of First Lord of
the Treasury, as he had. From the late-eighteenth century the office of Prime Minister gradually
became accepted and then entrenched as a permanent fixture of British government.

In 1778, during the American War of Independence, the Prime Minister Lord North wrote to
George III that: ‘in critical times, it is necessary that there should be one directing Minister’.
In 1803, during the gap between his two premierships, William Pitt the Younger told Lord
Melville of the need for an ‘avowed and real Minister, possessing the chief weight in the
Council, and the principal place in the confidence of the King’. By 1805 The Times newspaper
was beginning to use the phrase ‘Prime Minister’ in this sense and around this time it began to
be employed in parliamentary debates.

The office of Prime Minister was widely accepted as a political reality by the mid-nineteenth
century. But official acknowledgement of this development was slower to take place. In 1878
William Gladstone – who served as Prime Minister on four separate occasions – remarked:
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‘upon the whole, nowhere in the wide world does so great a substance cast so small a shadow;
nowhere is there a man who has so much power, with so little to show for it in the way of
formal title or prerogative’.

Yet in the same year a significant development occurred when Benjamin Disraeli used the term
‘Prime Minister’ when signing the Treaty of Berlin. The list of government ministers printed
in Hansard, the official record of parliamentary debates, seems to have first used the title Prime
Minister in 1885. An early internal reference to the Prime Minister was included in the minutes
of the first meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1902. The 1904 edition of the
Imperial Calendar (the predecessor to the Civil Service Yearbook) referred to Arthur Balfour
as ‘Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury’; in the previous edition he was merely ‘First
Lord of the Treasury and Lord Privy Seal’. Then in December 1905 the Prime Minister was
granted a place in the official order of precedence. The first statutory reference to the Prime
Minister came in the Chequers Estate Act 1917, which specified Chequers as a prime-
ministerial residence. Public recognition of the existence of a ‘Prime Minister’s Office’ in the
Civil Service Yearbook came as recently as the 1977 edition.

The British premiership has gradually taken on a more official existence over the last three
centuries, but remains largely informal in character, with many of its powers matters of
convention rather than law. In the words of the Cabinet Manual, published in October 2011,
‘The Prime Minister has few statutory functions but will usually take the lead on significant
matters of state’. Where once the very existence of the premiership was a subject of
controversy, more recently the manner in which the office is used has become the main focus
of discussion.

TURNING POINT AND PHASES

In 1974 Robert (Lord) Blake, Oxford academic and biographer of Benjamin Disraeli, identified
three ‘turning points’ in the history of the premiership. The first came in 1782–1784 with a
‘change…from a monarch who was the real head of the executive, an active political force
concerned with the day-to-day issues of government to a monarch with a veto – the right to
dismiss the Prime Minister and so the right to prevent the implementation of policies he
disliked’. The second and most significant change was the shift ‘from the King’s government
to party government’ which became apparent in 1834–1835. Third was a movement from
‘government by parties based on parliament to government by parties based on nation-wide
 7

organizations’, which began with the expansions in the franchise by the reform acts of 1867
and 1884.

Subsequent key moments in the office have been identified by the historian Peter (Lord)
Hennessy. They include:
• 1870: The Prime Minister acquires the sole right to call Cabinet meetings;
• 1881: ‘Questions to the PM’ are introduced in Parliament, an ancestor of today’s
weekly ‘Prime Minister’s Questions’;
• 1903: The establishment of the Prime Minister’s absolute right to remove ministers
from office; and
• 1918: The Prime Minister gains from the Cabinet as a whole the right to request the
dissolution of Parliament by the monarch, triggering a general election.

It is also possible to identify at least two longer historical phases in the history of the
premiership. The first ran from the early-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Nearly all
Prime Ministers have held the post of First Lord of the Treasury. Until the mid-nineteenth
century this role involved direct control of the Treasury and responsibility for financial policy.
If First Lords sat in the Commons, they combined this office with that of Chancellor of the
Exchequer. In 1803 William Pitt the Younger saw it as natural that the first minister should

“be the person at the head of the finances.”

During this first stage Prime Ministers were also departmental ministers who used their
Treasury power-base to achieve control over government.

The start of the second phase can be traced to a decision made by Sir Robert Peel, when he
became Prime Minister for the second time in 1841. Peel delegated day-to-day oversight of
Treasury business to a separate Chancellor of the Exchequer. Holders of this post came to be
important figures within government in their own right. The long-term consequence of this
arrangement was to cut off the premiership from this departmental function. It was now more
focused on overall government coordination and leadership, particularly through the Prime
Minister’s role as chair of the Cabinet. Cabinet had origins in the late-seventeenth century and
by the mid-nineteenth century established itself as the supreme collective decision-making
body within government.
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A DOMINANT OFFICE?
From Walpole’s time onwards observers have frequently accused either individual Prime
Ministers or the office itself of excessive dominance within government. In 1806 the incoming
Prime Minister, Lord Grenville, described his immediate predecessor, William Pitt the
Younger, as having led

‘a Cabinet of cyphers and a government of one man alone…[a] wretched system’.

One critic of the Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister from 1828-30 called him a ‘Dictator’.
Sidney Low argued in 1904 that for ‘the greater part of the past half century…The office of
premier has become more than ever like that of an elective President’. David Lloyd George
was described by Harold Laski in 1920 as ‘virtually the President of a State’. In the 1960s John
Mackintosh held that the ‘position and power of the Prime Minister has been the focal point of
modern Cabinets’; and Richard Crossman that ‘the post war epoch has seen the final
transformation of cabinet government into prime ministerial government’.

Similar claims have been made up to the present; but there have always been opposing views.
In 1775 Dr. (Samuel) Johnson, who had once been associated with the movement attacking
Walpole for being excessively strong, complained that under Lord North ‘government had too
little power…there was now no Prime Minister’. In his 1876 novel, The Prime Minister,
Anthony Trollope depicted the character of the Duke of Omnium describing how, as premier,
‘I never felt before that I had to lean so entirely on others as I do now’. Two years later
Gladstone wrote:

“The head of the British Government is not a Grand Vizier. He has no powers, properly so
called, over his colleagues.”

In 1899 the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery wrote that

“a Prime Minister who is the senior partner in every department as well as president of the
whole, who deals with all the business of government, who inspires and vibrates through every
part, is almost, if not quite, an impossibility.”

In 1976 the former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, reflected that few premiers “except in
wartime and rarely then, could dictate to their Cabinets.” unless they consulted with senior
ministers. It is unlikely that this clash of views about the premiership will ever fully be resolved.
 9

AIDES TO WALPOLE AND HIS SUCCESSORS

While the post of Prime Minister is filled by only one person, the institution of the premiership
is a group enterprise. Premiers have relied on staff ever since Walpole initiated the role. The
basic functions of his staff were those that many future Prime Ministers would continue to
require. A number of MPs helped him manage votes in the Commons. In the Lords the same
task was performed by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London, who secured the support of the
bloc of 26 Bishops. Gibson, who was labelled ‘Walpole’s Pope’, also advised Walpole on wider
Church issues. The Treasury assisted Walpole with issues of policy, administration and election
management. He constructed a communications operation to promote himself publicly,
including using control of the post office to prevent the distribution of critical works, bribing
authors not to write them, and producing, printing and circulating newspapers, journals and
poems praising Walpole and attacking his enemies.

The physical location of the office of the premiership was established at this early point. In the
1730s the celebrated architect William Kent built new offices for the Treasury and renovated
No.10 Downing Street, which became the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury.
Kent designed corridors to link the two buildings, providing Walpole with easy access to his
Treasury staff. From the 1960s the Cabinet Office was based in the area previously occupied
by the Treasury, creating the same convenient physical proximity.

Support staff continued to be important for Walpole’s successors. In the first phase of the
premiership, when Prime Ministers were normally in direct control of the Treasury, one of their
most important aides was the Secretary of the Treasury, who combined various key roles. They
included recording decisions at Treasury meetings and ensuring they were put into effect,
enforcing parliamentary discipline, advising on policy, organising election campaigns and
predicting the outcomes, managing the distribution of patronage, and providing personal
assistance to the premier.

Another significant aide has been the secretary to the Prime Minister. One early holder of this
position was the young Edmund Burke, who worked for Lord Rockingham during his first spell
as Prime Minister (1756-1765). In 1806 public funding was established for one secretary, with
a second added in 1812. One Prime Minister’s secretary, Edward Drummond, inadvertently
performed the ultimate service when an assassin mistook him for Sir Robert Peel in 1843.
Drummond was shot in the back and died five days later.
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Other staff included Francis Bonham, who helped Peel in his handling of the Conservative
Party within Parliament and nationally in the 1830s and 40s, foreshadowing the role of the
No.10 Political Secretary. John (Lord) Acton, the eminent historian, helped Gladstone with
various tasks from developing his overall policy to liaising with Queen Victoria. Ever since
Walpole’s era aides have been deployed on media management. Alfred Austin, a pro-
Conservative journalist, wrote anonymous articles in the press to help Lord Salisbury promote
his ideas, as well as providing him with political advice. In recognition of his efforts Austin
was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, despite being notorious for bad verse. Over time the tasks
these individuals performed became more formalised, regularised and specialised.

DEVELOPMENTS IN STAFFING
Some of the basic kinds of support provided to Prime Ministers have not changed radically
over time, but there have been significant structural shifts. The pressure involved in military
combat has been an important influence. During the Napoleonic wars the support team for the
first minister was substantially restructured, including in 1805 the creation of the role of
Assistant Secretary to the Treasury, a forerunner to the Whitehall departmental Permanent
Secretary. This post enabled its occupant – who did not hold a seat in the Commons – to focus
on administrative issues without being distracted by parliamentary business.

In 1916 Lloyd George introduced a number of innovations intended to help win the First World
War. He established a team of aides, each charged with overseeing particular policy areas.
Formally labelled the ‘Prime Minister’s Secretariat’, it was known colloquially as the ‘Garden
Suburb’ because its members were housed in huts erected on the lawn behind Downing Street.
It was scaled down and abolished after the war. Lloyd George also introduced a secretary to
take minutes at meetings of the War Cabinet he established. In the years before 1916 the only
written account of Cabinet discussions was the letter drafted by the premier for the monarch.
There were sometimes misunderstandings amongst ministers about what precisely had been
agreed. To end this unsatisfactory arrangement, Lloyd George inaugurated the post of Cabinet
Secretary and the body that would become the Cabinet Office. Both would prove crucial in
supporting the Prime Minister as chair of the Cabinet and in various other initiatives. The role
of Cabinet Secretary became part of popular culture in the 1980s through the portrayal of the
fictitious holder of the office, Sir Humphrey Appleby, in the television series Yes, Prime
Minister.
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Though some of Lloyd George’s methods fell into disrepute after he left office in 1922, his use
of aides in wartime proved influential. In 1940 Winston Churchill set up a Prime-Ministerial
support team called the Statistical Section. The central purpose of the Section was to keep him
informed about the allocation of resources involved in the Second World War. It was led by
the physicist Frederick Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), nicknamed ‘The Prof.’ Indeed, Lloyd
George’s ‘Garden Suburb’ can be seen as a forerunner of the Policy Unit, set up by Harold
Wilson in 1974 and still part of No. 10 today.

Another development in staffing involved the emergence of the permanent Civil Service as the
core of the office of Prime Minister. In the early days of the premiership there was no clear
division between political and administrative staff. Senior ministers – including premiers –
received assistance from individuals known as ‘men of business’, who combined functions
later associated with junior ministers with those that would today be attributed to civil servants.
By the mid-nineteenth century there emerged a permanent, impartial Civil Service which, by
the late 1920s, became the most important source of support for the Prime Minister within
No.10, comprising his or her private office of official private secretaries. From the 1960s
onwards this trend was to some extent reversed with the appearance of special advisers, who
combined party political and civil-service functions. They were similar to the ‘men of
businesses of the eighteenth century.

From the twentieth century onwards a variety of units were set up to provide services to the
Prime Minister, located either at No. 10 Downing Street or in the Cabinet Office at 70
Whitehall. They included the Press Office (which can be traced back to the appointment of a
press secretary, George Steward, in 1931), the Political Office (1964), and the Policy Unit
(1974).

This proliferation of prime-ministerial units and offices involved an expansion in staff

numbers. The upward trend was only gradual at first, but accelerated during the second half of
the twentieth century, with premiers bolstering their staff to support them in major policy
projects, such as reversing economic decline, improving public services and communicating
with the public. By 1997 the total number of staffs at No.10 had risen substantially, to around
200 by 2000. The prime-ministerial team by this point included substantial numbers in the
Cabinet Office as well as No. 10, with a grand total of 782 in 2005-2006.

Since this peak, though direct comparison of figures is not possible, the number of staffs has
substantially reduced. But the growth that had taken place, coupled with the increased use of
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special advisers, prompted speculation that an informal ‘Department of the Prime Minister’
had been established. If such a body were ever officially established, the British premiership
could be said to have clearly entered a new, third phase.
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CHAPTER- 3

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS

FUNCTIONS IN THE GOVERNMENT

The Prime Minister has a dominating position in the Cabinet. This can be well explained under
the following headings: -

A. As Cabinet Chief -As head of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister supervises and
coordinates the work of different Ministers. He performs a pivotal role in the formation
and working of the Cabinet. His opinion carries weight in the Cabinet meetings and as
such he can resolve the differences among the ministers.

B. Cabinet decisions-The Prime Minister sees that Cabinet decisions are carried out by
the departments, although, as we have said, the extent to which he supervises the
administration varies with different holders of the office. His contact with the affairs of
the Foreign Office is often especially close. The Cabinet secretariat is under this control,
and consults him in preparing the agenda. He communicates directly with the
other Commonwealth Prime Ministers, and presides when they meet in this country.

C. Formation of Govt -The primary functions of the Prime Minister are to form a
government, and to choose and preside over the Cabinet. He gives advice to
his ministerial colleagues on matters before they come to the Cabinet, and he is the
main channel of communication between the Cabinet and the Sovereign, with whom he
has a weekly audience. He advises the Sovereign on a dissolution.

D. Appointments- Many Crown appointments in addition to ministerial offices, are made

on his advice. These include the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, the Lords justices of
Appeal, bishops and deans of the Church of England, peerages Privy councilors and
most honours. As First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service, the
Prime Minister approves the senior appointments in the Civil Service.
 14

E. As Leader of the House-Being the leader of the majority party in the House of
Commons, the Prime Minister assumes the role of leader of the House. As leader of the
House, the Prime Minister enjoys privileges on the floor of the House.

F. As a National Leader -His opinion on important national issues is paid due head. His
statements and speeches are regarded as the most effective channels for moulding
public opinion.

G. Link between the Queen and Cabinet -British Prime Minister acts as a link between
the Cabinet and the Queen. He keeps her informed about all important decisions of the
Cabinet. The Prime Minister now invariable takes the office of First Lord of the
Treasury, and occasionally some other office as well, such as that of Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Gladstone), War office.

H. Conduct of Foreign Affairs-The opinion of the Prime Minister carries special weight
in foreign affairs. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, remains in constant touch with the Prime
Minister.

POWERS OF BRITISH PRIMEMININSTER

Undoubtedly, British Monarch is constitutional head of Great Britain, but British Prime
Minister is considered actual head of British government. The reason is that all royal powers
are practically exercised either by British Prime Minister or by his/her cabinet-ministers in the
name of British Crown.

British Prime Minister holds an influential place in the government. With the passage of time,
a number of powers of British Prime Minister have evolved. Therefore, British Prime Minister
possesses many powers. He is head of administration and possesses following administrative
powers.

(i) British Cabinet-British Prime Minister can appoint minister of his/her cabinet. Prime
Minister possesses power to allocate functions and departments among minister. Prime
 15

Minister chairs meetings of British Cabinet. British Prime Minister coordinates not only the
activities and policies of the cabinet, but also those of governmental departments.

(ii) Various Appointments-NO-doubt, actual appointment is made in most cases by British

King/Queen, but selections are recommendations are made by the Prime Minister. British
Prime Minister possesses power to advice British King/Queen for following Appointments.

➢ Finance Minister
➢ Ministers of Cabinet
➢ Senior Civil and Military officers
➢ Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives
➢ Governor-Generals of dominions and Governors of Colonies
➢ Peerages, knighthoods and other honours

iii) National Policy-British Prime Minister possesses power to make national policy regarding
national as well as foreign affairs. Therefore, he/she has control over national and foreign
affairs.

(iv) Government Departments-British Prime Minister has also control over government
departments. Especially he/she plays an important role to settle disputes among different
government-departments.

(v) Advisor to British King/Queen - Another important power of British Prime Minister is
that he/she is chief advisor to British Monarch. He/she can advise British King/Queen on
critical matters like dissolution of Parliament.
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CHAPTER – 4

POSITION OF UK PRIME MINISTER IN COMPARISON TO US PRESIDENT

Two of the most important executive positions in the free world today are those of the
president and the prime minister. While there are many nations that will have one or the other
of these offices (and some, like Germany, will have both), I will discuss the President of the
United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain since each of these offices was a
creation of their respective nations and have been borrowed by other nations since.

According to professor Laski, there is no foreign institution with which” in any basic sense”
the American president may be compared. However, as the real executive heads of the two
countries, the British Prime Minister and American President may be contrasted in respect of
their powers and functions which are as follows-

THE EXECUTIVE IN THE LEGISLATURE V. THE EXECUTIVE AND THE

LEGISLATURE

The prime minister is an “executive in the legislature," that is, he's both a legislator and an
executive. Under the British constitution, the voters create an assembly and the assembly
creates the executive. So, the prime minister is both a legislator and an executive: he is elected
from a constituency (so that makes him a legislator) and he's been chosen by the House of
Commons to lead Her Majesty’s Government (that makes him an executive).

The American president, however, is not a legislator. The legislative power (the power to make
law) is given to the Congress alone in Article I. The president lacks the power to make law. He
does have limited power to stop laws and while he can recommend legislation, Congress can
ignore his request. Presidents do issue executive orders and some other directives that have the
force of law. As a technical point, however, he has no inherent law-making power. It's common
practice for the president to initiate the bills that will be considered by the Congress. But, he
cannot initiate them personally; he must get a member of Congress to do this for him.
 17

TERM OF OFFICE

The prime minister, on the other hand, has no term limit. The prime minister will remain prime
minister so long as he is re-elected to the House of Commons, enjoys the confidence of his
party and his party remains the majority party in the Commons. Great Britain must hold an
election every five years, but the prime minister can ask the Queen to call for an earlier election,
a request she will honor. A prime minister might want to call for an election sooner than five
years in order to strengthen his party’s position in the House of Commons

As for the American president, the Electoral College elects him for a term of four years. He
can serve a total of two of these four-year terms according to the Twenty-Second Amendment.
Because an American president is term-limited.

ELECTION
The British Prime Minister is appointed by the queen from majority party in the house. He
actually represents only a constituency from which he is elected.

The American President is indirectly elected by the electoral college though the election in
practical reality has become direct. He is the representative of no constituency but the whole
people.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The prime minister is accountable and answerable to the house of common as he is the leader
of the house of commons and therefore directly steers the course of legislation.

The president is not responsible to the legislature, moreover does not guide the course of
legislation.

VETO POWER

No veto power has been vested with the prime minister of UK.
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The president of America possesses the veto power over laws enacted by the Congress.
However, his veto power except pocket veto is not final.

DERIVATION OF POWER

The Prime Minister of UK derives his power from constitutional conventions.

Whereas the President of America derives his powers from the constitution.

DECLARATION OF WAR

War in Britain can be declared by the crown which means, in actual practice, the Prime
Minister.

Though in some places the position and power of the UK Prime Minister is less and lower
than the position and power of the US President, still the UK Prime Minister plays an
important role in his own way.
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CONCLUSION

From the above discussion regarding the powers and functions of the Prime Minister, it
becomes clear that the British Prime Minister stands at the very core of British administration
and politics. His position has been variously summed up by writers. Lord Morley described
him as primus inter pares, the first among equals. He said that although in the Cabinet all its
members stand on an equal footing, speak with one voice, yet the head of the Cabinet, that is,
the Prime Minister, occupies a position of exceptional and peculiar authority. Jennings is of the
opinion that the Prime Minister in relation to his ministers is rather “a sun around which planets
revolve.”

As a matter of fact, the actual power of the Prime Minister depends in part on his own
personality, in part on his own prestige and in part upon his party support. Prime Ministers like
Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair
dominated the British political scene due to their personalities and administrative calibre.
Again, if the Prime Minister is a popular and dynamic figure, it is difficult for his colleagues
to oppose him. In the ultimate analysis, the British Prime Minister is the most important person
in the government of the country. Without him, the ministers have no existence. Nothing can
take place in the government against his will. The authority of the Prime Minister is great, but,
to a large extent, his authority is a matter of influence.
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BIBILOGRAPYH

1. WEBILOGRAPHY

• WWW.CS.MCGILL.CA
• WWW. PUBLICATIONS.PARLIAMENT.UK
• WWW.BBC.CO.UK
• WWW.GOV.UK
• WWW.HISTORY.COM
• WWW. FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM
• WWW.INFOPLEASE.COM
• WWW.BARTLEBY.COM
• WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

2. BOOKS

• The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders Since 1945: The Job and Its Holders Since
1945
• A history of modern Britain
• Betting the House: The Inside Story of the 2017 Election