Cabinet of the United Kingdom

In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body comprised of government officials chosen by the Prime Minister. Most members are the most senior government ministers, mainly heads of government departments with the title "Secretary of State". Formal members of the cabinet are drawn exclusively from either house of Parliament.

Composition

The Prime Minister uses royal prerogative powers of patronage to appoint and dismiss members of the cabinet. Thus the Prime Minister requires the formal approval of the monarch for any appointment to the Cabinet. Today, the monarch's approval is merely token, and has never been denied in recent history. Changing the membership is called a reshuffle. The cabinet has always been led by the Prime Minister, although his role is traditionally described as primus inter pares — first among equals. The extent to which the Prime Minister is collegial depends on political conditions and individual style. The Prime Minister individually and through the cabinet secretary sets the agenda for cabinet meetings. In formal constitutional terms, the Cabinet is a committee of the Privy Council; all Cabinet members are Privy Councillors and therefore use the style "The Right Honourable".

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - Royal prerogative - Monarch - Reshuffle - Prime Minister - Primus inter pares - Cabinet secretary - Constitutional - Privy Council - The Right Honourable

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In recent history, the composition of the cabinet has been made up overwhelmingly of members of the House of Commons, with few members of the Lords. Today, apart from the Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House of Lords, offices that are always filled by a member of the House of Lords, no cabinet minister is drawn from the Lords. The last position to do so was the Secretary of State for International Development, filled by Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos in 2003. The last Secretary of State of a major department drawing from the Lords was Lord Carrington, serving between 1979 and 1982 as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Related Topics:
House of Commons - Lord Chancellor - Leader of the House of Lords - Secretary of State for International Development - Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos - 2003 - Secretary of State - Lord Carrington - 1979 - 1982 - Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

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In recent years, non-members of Parliament have been permitted by the Prime Minister to attend cabinet meetings on a regular basis, notably Alastair Campbell in his capacity as Director of Communications and Strategy between 1997 and 2003.

Related Topics:
Alastair Campbell - 1997 - 2003

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