The structure, role and powers of the executive, the concept of ministerial responsibility, the powers of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the factors governing the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to explain the structure and powers of the UK executive, the doctrines of individual and collective ministerial responsibility, the sources of prime ministerial power, and the factors that determine whether a Prime Minister dominates the Cabinet or is constrained by it.

The structure and powers of the executive

The executive is the branch that proposes and implements policy. At its centre are the Prime Minister, the Cabinet (around 20 senior ministers who head departments), junior ministers, and the permanent, politically neutral civil service that advises ministers and delivers policy. The Cabinet is the formal decision-making committee, though much business is settled in Cabinet committees or bilaterally. Executive powers come largely from the royal prerogative, the historic powers of the Crown now exercised by ministers, and from the government's control of the legislative agenda through its Commons majority.

Ministerial responsibility

• Collective ministerial responsibility: all ministers must publicly support government policy in public, or resign; Cabinet discussions remain confidential. It binds the Cabinet together, presents a united front, and is the basis of the government's collective accountability to Parliament. Resignations on principle (such as over Brexit policy) illustrate the doctrine in action.
• Individual ministerial responsibility: ministers are accountable to Parliament for the conduct of their department and for their personal conduct, and may be expected to resign for serious policy failures or personal misconduct. In practice ministers often distinguish between policy and operational failings to avoid resignation, so the doctrine is applied unevenly.

The powers of the Prime Minister

What determines the PM's dominance over the Cabinet?

The balance between Prime Minister and Cabinet is not fixed; it varies from one premiership to another, and even within a single premiership as circumstances change. It depends on:

• The size of the Commons majority: a large majority frees the PM (Blair from 1997 to 2005, Johnson after 2019), while a small, no or eroding majority constrains them (Major after 1992, May after the 2017 election left her without a majority).
• Party unity: a united party strengthens the PM; deep divisions weaken and can destroy them (Conservative splits over Europe contributed to the falls of Thatcher, May and Johnson).
• Personal authority and popularity: a successful, electorally popular leader can dominate Cabinet and party; a faltering one faces challenges and may be removed by their own MPs, as Thatcher was in 1990.
• Events and crises: wars, recessions, pandemics and scandals can make or break a premiership, sometimes concentrating power in Number 10 and sometimes exposing the PM's dependence on colleagues.

This is also the heart of the presidentialism debate: PMs increasingly act with spatial leadership, a personalised media profile and a strong Number 10, yet they remain dependent on Parliament and party in a way a president is not, and can be removed mid-term by their own side.