54-937: His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India , known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary , was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of the British Indian Empire , including Aden , Burma and the Persian Gulf Residency . The post was created in 1858 when the East India Company 's rule in Bengal ended and India , except for
108-880: A book about their ministerial experiences while in office. Former ministers require manuscripts to be cleared by the Cabinet Secretary, under the "Radcliffe rules". Ministers should not make oral statements to Parliament without prior approval from the Prime Minister. Any other minister or MP to be mentioned in such a statement should be notified beforehand. Official government transport, paid for by public funds, should normally only be used on government business, except where security requires that it be used even for personal transport. All travel should be cost-effective, and any trips abroad should be kept as small as possible. All overseas delegations costing more than £500 have their details published, annually. Members of
162-545: A complete list of any financial interests they have. In March 2009, this list was released to the public for the first time. It is collated and made available by the Cabinet Office. Officials sometimes need to restrict "interested" ministers' access to certain papers, to ensure impartiality. Guidelines are set out as to maintaining neutrality for ministers who are members of a trade union. No minister should accept gifts or hospitality from any person or organisation when
216-508: A conflict of interest could arise. A list of gifts, and how they were dealt with on an individual basis, is published annually. Speeches , interviews and news releases should all be cleared with the Number 10 Press Office , to ensure synchronicity of timing, and clarity of content. Ministers should not practice "regular journalism" without the permission of the Office. No minister may publish
270-523: A form of enforcer to conduct investigations and give confidential advice. The Adviser under Tony Blair was Comptroller and Auditor General Sir John Bourn . The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for clearing ministers' financial matters. The Code is currently administered by the Propriety and Ethics group within the Cabinet Office . The Code is periodically updated. The 2015 update removed
324-619: A pathetic figure. The credulous man actually believed the prime minister when he said he knew nothing about a businessman buddy, Lord Brownlow, paying for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat until the media mentioned it in February 2021." On 12 January 2022, in the House of Commons , MP Chris Bryant described Lord Geidt's reputation as "tarnished" by his involvement with Johnson. In his annual report of May 2022, Geidt said that he had avoided offering unprompted advice to Boris Johnson about
378-595: A political body – that is to say the Cabinet – which may have to make policy decisions upon the basis of the legal advice the law officers have given." The Cabinet is a committee of the Privy Council (though this interpretation has been challenged) and, as such, all Cabinet ministers must be privy counsellors. Members of the Cabinet are by convention chosen from members of the two houses of Parliament, as convention dictates that ministers may only be recruited from
432-463: A remedy worse than the disease". Charles I began a formal "Cabinet Council" from his accession in 1625, as his Privy Council, or "private council", and the first recorded use of "cabinet" by itself for such a body comes from 1644, and is again hostile and associates the term with dubious foreign practices. There were ministries in England led by the chief minister , which was a personage leading
486-411: A row with the Prime Minister over trade policy". BBC News said the resignation was due to a request for advice on a trade issue that had left him with no choice but to quit. Geidt maintained he was asked to advise this week on an issue he believed would be a deliberate breach of the ministerial code. Geidt wrote "This request has placed me in an impossible and odious position." He wrote the concept that
540-465: A series of high-profile political scandals over the Code ( David Blunkett resigned for a second time over a conflict of interest; and Tessa Jowell 's husband was implicated – separately – in a furore over his financial dealings), that it should be administered by a more impartial figure than the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister remains the ultimate judge of whether or not a minister has breached
594-796: Is a document setting out "rules" and standards for government ministers in the United Kingdom. Separate codes exist for ministers of the Scottish Government , the Northern Ireland Executive (based on the St Andrews Agreement ) and the Welsh Government . Codes of conduct for ministers are amongst a range of initiatives designed to respond to perceptions of the erosion of ministerial accountability, and to preserve public trust in
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#1732772251508648-642: Is appointed, they have been granted a customary peerage. The Cabinet is now made up almost entirely of members of the House of Commons. Civil servants from the Cabinet Secretariat and special advisers (on the approval of the prime minister) can also attend Cabinet meetings, but neither take part in discussions. It has been suggested that the modern Cabinet is too large, including by former Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill and scholars Robert Hazell and Rodney Brazier . Hazell has suggested merging
702-769: Is covered during any absence from London, even for constituency business. This section, Ministers and Civil Servants , regards ministerial relationships with the Civil Service . It states that ministers "must uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service, and not ask civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the Civil Service Code ." Ministers' Constituency and Party Interests directs ministers to refrain from using government property and resources in their role as an MP . For example, political leaflets must not be distributed at
756-545: Is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory. This interpretation was originally put across in the work of 19th-century constitutionalists such as Walter Bagehot , who described the Cabinet as the "efficient secret" of the British political system in his book The English Constitution . The political and decision-making authority of
810-546: The Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1995. Ministers who have left office are prohibited from lobbying government for two years. They should also seek advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) regarding any employment they take up within the two years of leaving office. Complying by the advice of the committee is mandatory under the code. It has been argued that, following
864-618: The Committee on Standards in Public Life . The first edition to be entitled Ministerial Code was Tony Blair 's 1997 set of rules. By convention, each new Prime Minister issues their own version. The most recent version was released in December 2022. When Gordon Brown came into office in June 2007 he appointed Sir Philip Mawer , Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards , as the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests –
918-478: The Council of Ministers or similar bodies of other countries are often informally referred to as cabinets. The modern Cabinet system was set up by Prime Minister David Lloyd George during his premiership, 1916–1922, with a Cabinet Office and secretariat, committee structures, unpublished minutes , and a clearer relationship with departmental Cabinet ministers. The formal procedures, practice and proceedings of
972-534: The Home Secretary "had not consistently met the high standards expected of her under the Ministerial Code." Priti Patel issued an apology, but did not resign, and Boris Johnson did not call for her resignation. Alex Allan subsequently resigned as independent adviser, stating, "I recognise that it is for the prime minister to make a judgement on whether actions by a minister amount to a breach of
1026-575: The House of Commons and the House of Lords . The Ministerial Code says that the business of the Cabinet (and cabinet committees ) is mainly questions of major issues of policy, questions of critical importance to the public and questions on which there is an unresolved argument between departments. The work of the Cabinet is scrutinised by the Shadow Cabinet , made up of members of the Official Opposition . Until at least
1080-872: The Princely States , was brought under the direct administration of the government in Whitehall in London , beginning the official colonial period under the British Empire . In 1937, the India Office was reorganised which separated Burma and Aden under a new Burma Office , but the same secretary of state headed both departments and a new title was established as His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India and Burma . The India Office and its secretary of state were abolished in August 1947, when
1134-1000: The United Kingdom granted independence in the Indian Independence Act , which created two new independent dominions , India and Pakistan . Burma soon achieved independence separately in early 1948. David Lloyd George ( Coalition ) Cabinet of the United Kingdom King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Cabinet of
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#17327722515081188-403: The constitutional convention of collective ministerial responsibility . Cabinet ministers, like all ministers, are appointed and may be dismissed by the monarch without notice or reason, on the advice of the prime minister. The allocation and transfer of responsibilities between ministers and departments is also generally at the prime minister's discretion. The Cabinet has always been led by
1242-467: The power of the prime minister , who moved from being the primus inter pares of the Asquith Cabinets of 1906 onwards, to the dominating figures of David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin , and Winston Churchill . The Institute for Government claims that the reduced number of full Cabinet meetings signifies "that the role of Cabinet as a formal decision-making body has been in decline since
1296-473: The 16th century, individual officers of state had separate property, powers and responsibilities granted with their separate offices by royal command, and the Crown and the Privy Council constituted the only co-ordinating authorities. In England, phrases such as "cabinet counsel", meaning advice given in private, in a cabinet in the sense of a small room, to the monarch, occur from the late 16th century, and, given
1350-403: The Cabinet have the authority to order special (non-scheduled) flights, but this power should only be used when necessary. In the event of a minister being summoned home on urgent government business, the cost of the round trip will be paid for from public funds. There are also rules relating to the use of official cars, and air miles gained by official travel. These principles were published by
1404-574: The Cabinet remain largely unpublished. This development grew out of the exigencies of the First World War , where faster and better co-ordinated decisions across government were seen as a crucial part of the war effort. Decisions on mass conscription , co-ordination worldwide with other governments across international theatres, and armament production tied into a general war strategy that could be developed and overseen from an inner " War Cabinet ". The country went through successive crises after
1458-555: The Cabinet. The total number of Cabinet ministers who are entitled to a salary is capped by statute at 21, plus the Lord Chancellor , who is paid separately. Some ministers may be designated as also attending Cabinet, like the Attorney General , as "...it has been considered more appropriate, in recent times at any rate, that the independence and detachment of his office should not be blurred by his inclusion in
1512-526: The Code. In February, 2020, Sir Philip Rutnam resigned as permanent secretary at the Home Office , causing the Cabinet Office to launch an inquiry into allegations of bullying by the Home Secretary , Priti Patel , and whether the Ministerial Code had been breached. Sir Alex Allan led the investigation in his role as the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests, which he had held since 2011. On 20 November 2020, he reported in his findings that
1566-521: The English government for the monarch. Despite primary accountability to the monarch, these ministries, having a group of ministers running the country, served as a predecessor of the modern perspective of cabinet. After the ministry of Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland collapsed, Sir Robert Walpole rose to power as First Lord of the Treasury . Since the reign of King George I the Cabinet has been
1620-737: The Government of the day to account is often cited by the UK media as a justification for the vigour with which they question and challenge the Government. The classic view of Cabinet Government was laid out by Walter Bagehot in The English Constitution (1867) in which he described the prime minister as the primus-inter-pares (" first among equals "). The view was questioned by Richard Crossman in The Myths of Cabinet Government (1972) and by Tony Benn . They were both members of
1674-454: The House of Commons or the House of Lords, although this convention has been broken in the past for short periods. Patrick Gordon Walker is perhaps the most notable exception: he was appointed to the Cabinet despite losing his seat in the 1964 general election , and resigned from Cabinet after running and losing in a by-election in January 1965. Sometimes, when a minister from neither House
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1728-561: The Labour governments of the 1960s and thought that the position of the prime minister had acquired more power so that prime ministerial government was a more apt description. Crossman stated that the increase in the power of the prime minister resulted from power of centralised political parties, the development of a unified civil service, and the growth of the prime minister's private office and Cabinet secretariat . Graham Allen (a government whip during Tony Blair's first government) makes
1782-655: The United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of the Government of the United Kingdom . A committee of the Privy Council , it is chaired by the Prime Minister and its members include Secretaries of State and senior Ministers of State . Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Prime Minister and are by convention chosen from members of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ,
1836-401: The cabinet has been gradually reduced over the last several decades, with some claiming its role has been usurped by a "prime ministerial" government. In the modern political era, the prime minister releases information concerning the ministerial ranking in the form of a list detailing the seniority of all Cabinet ministers. The centralisation of the Cabinet in the early 20th century enhanced
1890-652: The case in The Last Prime Minister: Being Honest About the UK Presidency (2003) that the office of prime minister has presidential powers, as did Michael Foley in The British Presidency (2000). However, the power that a prime minister has over his or her cabinet colleagues is directly proportional to the amount of support that they have with their political parties and this is often related to whether
1944-480: The custom of meeting on a Thursday, after the appointment of Gordon Brown , the meeting day was switched to Tuesday. However, when David Cameron became prime minister, he held his cabinet meetings on Thursdays again. Upon Theresa May's tenure, she switched the cabinet meetings back to Tuesday. The length of meetings varies according to the style of the Prime Minister and political conditions, but modern meetings can be as short as 30 minutes. Ministers are bound by
1998-404: The documents from their time in office). This set of rules is known as the "Radcliffe rules". Setting out the rules regarding special advisers (temporary civil servants who are political agents of the minister), how many each minister may appoint, and their powers and duties. Also covered is the appointment of Parliamentary Private Secretaries ( backbenchers who act as an unpaid secretary to
2052-463: The earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister". Section 2, Ministers and the Government , sets out the precise rules of collective responsibility. It also states that ministers should relinquish all government material when ceasing to hold a role, and provides rules on access to government papers by former ministers (for example, those writing memoirs may wish to check
2106-449: The expense of public funds. Ministers with a conflict of interest between their government role and their constituency (for example, a transport minister may have to balance the desire of his constituents not to have a new airport built near their town, with his government duties) are simply advised to act cautiously; "ministers are advised to take particular care." This section requires ministers to provide their Permanent Secretary with
2160-411: The explicit requirement that ministers comply with international law and treaty obligations. Dave Penman , general secretary of the senior civil servants' trade union FDA , felt that Keir Starmer’s 2024 reforms to the ministerial code did not go far enough. The Code has ten sections, and two annexes. It begins with a foreword from the Prime Minister . This section is an introduction, setting out
2214-576: The institutions of cabinet government. Written guidance for British cabinet ministers began as the document Questions of Procedure for Ministers (QPM), which was a confidential document prepared by the Cabinet Office to assist ministers, and dates to at least the 1980s. The earliest published form of the Code is a result of the QPM's release by the Major Government in 1992. Further editions have been based on suggestions and recommendations from
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2268-448: The latter's obligations under his own ministerial code because if it had been rejected, he would have had to resign. On 15 June 2022, Geidt resigned from the role. The Scotsman said the reason for his resignation was that he was "tasked to offer a view about the Government's intention to consider measures which risk a deliberate and purposeful breach of the Ministerial Code". The Daily Telegraph said he "had finally resigned over
2322-580: The media, and was made clear in the Butler Review , where Blair's style of "sofa government" was censured. The combined effect of the prime minister's ability to control Cabinet by circumventing effective discussion in Cabinet and the executive's ability to dominate parliamentary proceedings places the British prime minister in a position of great power, that has been likened to an elective dictatorship (a phrase coined by Quinton Hogg, Lord Hailsham in 1976). The relative inability of Parliament to hold
2376-498: The minister, to gain experience and credit with the party), whose appointments require written authority from the Prime Minister. PPSs are not members of the Government, but are expected to form part of the payroll vote , and support all government initiatives in the House of Commons . Ministers and Their Departments regards the machinery of government (the structure of government departments and how responsibilities can be transferred), and how ministers should ensure that their work
2430-467: The ministerial code." On 28 April 2021, Johnson appointed Lord Geidt to succeed Allan as the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests. On 28 May 2021, Geidt published a report on allegations surrounding the financing of refurbishments made to 11 Downing Street . The report concluded that Johnson did not breach the Ministerial Code and that no conflict of interest, or reasonably perceived conflict of interest, arose. However, Geidt expressed that it
2484-414: The non-standardised spelling of the day, it is often hard to distinguish whether "council" or "counsel" is meant. The OED credits Francis Bacon in his Essays (1605) with the first use of "Cabinet council", where it is described as a foreign habit, of which he disapproves: "For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings' times, hath introduced cabinet counsels;
2538-536: The offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , Scotland, and Wales into one Secretary of State for the Union, in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility for English local government . Most cabinet meetings take place in the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street ; however, they have been known to take place in other places. Despite
2592-481: The party considers them to be an electoral asset or liability. Also when a party is divided into factions a prime minister may be forced to include other powerful party members in the Cabinet for party political cohesion. The Prime Minister's personal power is also curtailed if their party is in a power-sharing arrangement, or a formal coalition with another party (as happened in the coalition government of 2010 to 2015). Ministerial Code The Ministerial Code
2646-439: The prime minister, whose originally unpaid office as such was traditionally described as merely primus inter pares (first among equals), but today the prime minister is the preeminent head of government , with the effective power to appoint and dismiss Cabinet ministers and to control the Cabinet's agenda. The extent to which the Government is collegial varies with political conditions and individual personalities. The Cabinet
2700-409: The principal executive group of British government. Both he and George II made use of the system, as both were not native English speakers, unfamiliar with British politics, and thus relied heavily on selected groups of advisers. The term "minister" came into being since the royal officers "ministered" to the sovereign. The name and institution have been adopted by most English-speaking countries, and
2754-405: The role of ministers to the government, to Parliament , and to the people. It directs ministers to "behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety," to uphold the principle of collective responsibility , and to avoid conflicts of interest . It says "It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at
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#17327722515082808-797: The war." This view has been contradicted by Vernon Bogdanor , a British constitutional expert, who claims that "the Cabinet has, in fact, been strengthened by the decline in full meetings, as it allows more matters to be transferred to cabinet committees. Thus, business is done more efficiently." Most prime ministers have had a so-called "kitchen cabinet" consisting of their own trusted advisers who may be Cabinet members but are often non-cabinet trusted personal advisers on their own staff. In recent governments, generally from Margaret Thatcher , and especially in that of Tony Blair , it has been reported that many or even all major decisions have been made before cabinet meetings. This suggestion has been made by former ministers including Clare Short and Chris Smith , in
2862-659: The war: the 1926 general strike ; the Great Depression of 1929–32; the rise of Bolshevism after 1917 and fascism after 1922; the Spanish Civil War 1936 onwards; the invasion of Abyssinia 1936; the League of Nations Crisis which followed; and the re-armament and resurgence of Germany from 1933, leading into the Second World War . The Prime Minister decides the membership and attendees of
2916-589: Was "unwise" for Johnson to have proceeded with refurbishments without "more rigorous regard for how this would be funded". In December 2021 it was reported that Geidt was considering resigning his role as standards adviser because Johnson had withheld information from him during his inquiry into the flat refurbishment controversy. The Conservative Party was fined £17,800 for improperly declaring this donation. Nick Cohen commented in The Guardian that "Lord Geidt, Johnson's ministerial standards adviser, now cuts
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