DOCSLIB.ORG

Role and Powers of the Prime Minister

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Role and Powers of the Prime Minister House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee Role and Powers of the Prime Minister Oral Evidence Oral evidence taken on Thursday 7 February 2013 and Thursday 7 March 2013 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 7 February and 7 March 2013 HC 975 -i and -ii Published on 16 May 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £8 .5 0 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [SO] Processed: [15-05-2013 16:42] Job: 029318 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/029318/029318_o001_th_Corrected transcript HC 975-i.xml Political and Constitutional Reform Committee: Evidence Ev 13 Thursday 7 February 2013 Members present: Mr Graham Allen (Chair) Mr Christopher Chope Tristram Hunt Sheila Gilmore Mrs Eleanor Laing Andrew Griffiths Stephen Williams Fabian Hamilton ________________ Examination of Witness Witness: Professor Robert Hazell CBE, Professor of Government and the Constitution, and Director of the Constitution Unit, School of Public Policy, UCL, gave evidence. Chair: Robert, how are you? particular the size of the Prime Minister’s majority in Professor Hazell: I am very well, thank you. Parliament, the Prime Minister’s standing in his party Chair: Very good to see you and welcome to the and his standing in the country. So the Prime Select Committee. We are looking this morning, with Minister’s power and authority waxes and wanes your guidance and that of Professor Michael Foley, at depending on those political factors. the role and powers of the Prime Minister. This is one of our ongoing inquiries. You do not want to make Q69 Fabian Hamilton: What I am trying to get at is any opening statements, so if you are ready, we will how far has coalition had a positive effect on jump straight into the questions we have for you. constraining those powers? Is that a positive in itself, Fabian Hamilton: Good morning, Professor Hazell. and if it is, how can it be maintained in a majority Professor Hazell: Good morning, Mr Hamilton. government where there is no coalition? Professor Hazell: Whether you regard it as a positive Q67 Fabian Hamilton: To start off, what do you or negative depends on an individual’s perception of think are the positive and negative aspects of the whether the Government and the powers of the Prime effect of coalition government on the way that the Minister need constraining, whether we need more of Prime Minister carries out his role? How has it a brake, more of a collective brake, on the way in affected this Prime Minister compared to previous which the Prime Minister operates and runs the Prime Ministers who have had an overall majority in Government. There probably has been, among the House of Commons? academics certainly, a majority view that we do need Professor Hazell: The main respect is the obvious a stronger collective brake. one, namely that coalition has had quite a severely In terms of how that brake is operated, you will know constraining effect. You can see that in a formal it is operated in particular through the Cabinet document that the new Government published, I think, committee system, in that every committee has a on 21 May 2010: of the initial coalition agreements, Chair from one of the coalition partners and a Deputy it is the key procedural annex, called The Coalition Chair from the other coalition party. All the agendas Agreement for Stability and Reform. It sets outs in have to be jointly signed off by both Chairs, so three pages how the new coalition Government everything those committees discuss is jointly agreed proposed to co-ordinate all major decision making and and all the decisions made in those Cabinet policy making between the two coalition partners. committees are, in effect, jointly agreed. So that is Critically, it constrained the power of the Prime Minister in relation to the way that Cabinet and how, at the apex of Government, through the Cabinet Cabinet committees would operate, because no committee system, the coalition operates and all Cabinet committee can be established, or its terms of decisions in the new government are coalitionised. reference set, or its membership set, without the You asked if that could be carried through to single consent of the Deputy Prime Minister; and no party Government. The most effective way in which ministerial appointments can be made without the it might be carried through would be through the new consent of the Deputy Prime Minister, nor can guidance for the conduct of Government, which is Ministers be dismissed without his consent. called the Cabinet Manual. As you know, a chapter of that was published in draft before the May 2010 Q68 Fabian Hamilton: Are these positives, do you election, and the full Cabinet Manual approved by the think? new Government was published, from memory, Professor Hazell: I am saying these are all major towards the end of 2011. The expectation is that each constraints on the way in which a British Prime new administration will revise and re-publish the Minister can run the Government as head of Cabinet Manual. That is what has happened in New Government. You will know that, compared with most Zealand, and it was from New Zealand that we other heads of Government, the British Prime Minister borrowed the idea of a Cabinet Manual. has, in large part thanks to our unwritten constitution, a relatively free hand. In our system, the Prime Q70 Fabian Hamilton: Forgive me, but I am right Minister’s powers are very extensive and they are in thinking that New Zealand also has an unwritten constrained largely by political constraints, in constitution? cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [15-05-2013 16:42] Job: 029318 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/029318/029318_o001_th_Corrected transcript HC 975-i.xml Ev 14 Political and Constitutional Reform Committee: Evidence 7 February 2013 Professor Robert Hazell CBE Professor Hazell: It does indeed, yes, and it has a in other countries’ written constitutions, but on the detailed Cabinet Manual, not least because of the whole, they are defined in very brief and sketchy experience now of five coalition governments in a terms. To give you an illustration from the post-war row. If this Committee wanted to recommend that the constitution of Japan, it says in Article 68, “The Prime more collegiate style of cabinet government that has Minister shall appoint the Ministers of State. The undoubtedly been practised under the coalition were Prime Minister may remove the Ministers of State as to become a norm for future governments, including he chooses” and then in terms of his functions, single party governments, I think the most promising jumping to Article 72, “The Prime Minister, vehicle in which to express that new norm would be representing the Cabinet, submits Bills, reports on a Cabinet Manual. general national affairs and foreign relations to the Diet” that is the Japanese Parliament, “and exercises Q71 Fabian Hamilton: Thank you. In your book, control and supervision over various administrative How Coalition Works at the Centre, in chapter 4, you branches”. It is pretty terse. From the written interviewed people. I wonder whether your views and constitutions I have looked at, that is not untypical in conclusions have changed since those interviews took terms of a general description of the functions of the place in the spring and summer of 2011 and since you Prime Minister. There may be other clauses in the published the book, just over a year ago. constitution relating to specific matters that add a bit Professor Hazell: That is a very fair question to which but, on the whole, the powers of Prime Ministers in I cannot give a terribly satisfactory answer. The book written constitutions are not as extensively defined as was based on very intensive interviews in 2011—from they are, for example, in our new Cabinet Manual. memory, we interviewed almost 150 people—but I Chair: That is very helpful. have conducted no systematic interviewing since. I make occasional visits to Whitehall—I am going to Q73 Mr Chope: You say there has been a revival of the Cabinet Office today—so the impressions that I Cabinet Government because of closer working collect now are anecdotal rather than systematic. But between the Prime Minister and the Treasury and the the anecdotal impressions are that the coalition Cabinet Office, but is that not really just confined to continues to operate in the more collegiate manner what I describe as the Gang of Four—the Prime that I have described, despite its difficulties and Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Chief disagreements that have surfaced in the press. It is Secretary to the Treasury and the Chancellor of the still, I am told, a more harmonious and more Exchequer, the four of them together? Osborne and collegiate style of operation than we saw under the the Prime Minister, Danny Alexander and the Deputy single party Government led by Tony Blair, in Prime Minister, they are, effectively, deciding particular because of the very well known deep divide everything, rather than the Cabinet as a whole between No. 10 and the Treasury led by Gordon deciding on everything. Brown. There is no equivalent to that huge fracture in Professor Hazell: In the chapter of our book that Mr the Labour Government and the secrecy and very non- Hamilton referred to, which describes how the collegial behaviour that gave rise to. coalition operates at the centre, we describe in the first The Government in certain respects has slowed down half of that chapter, the formal decision-making on big policy issues because the coalition partners process through Cabinet and Cabinet committees that cannot agree.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    Thursday Volume 507 18 March 2010 No. 60 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday 18 March 2010 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2010 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/ Enquiries to the Office of Public Sector Information, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] 951 18 MARCH 2010 952 the autumn. In fact, there was a public meeting in the House of Commons west midlands earlier this week. I will make sure that my hon. Friend is kept abreast of developments and Thursday 18 March 2010 that his views about the need to consult as many people as possible are taken on board before the autumn consultation begins. The House met at half-past Ten o’clock Jeremy Wright (Rugby and Kenilworth) (Con): As PRAYERS the Minister knows, the proposed line would run right through my constituency, including Burton Green, which the hon. Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) [MR.SPEAKER in the Chair] mentioned. In respect of the impact of the construction work, may I ask that information be made available on BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS two specific matters? First, will there need to be any extra land-take in order to complete the construction LONDON LOCAL AUTHORITIES BILL [LORDS] work? As the Minister will appreciate, the proposed line (BY ORDER) passes very close to residential properties in Burton Second Reading opposed and deferred until Thursday Green and elsewhere, and if people’s gardens are to be 25 March (Standing Order No.
    [Show full text]
  • 100 Years of Government Communication
    AZ McKenna 100 Years of Government Communication AZ McKenna John Buchan, the frst Director of Information appointed in 1917 Front cover: A press conference at the Ministry of Information, 1944 For my parents and grandparents © Crown copyright 2018 Tis publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/ doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Where we have identifed any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. 100 YEARS OF GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must frstly record my thanks to Alex Aiken, Executive Director of Government Communication, who commissioned me to write this book. His interest in it throughout its development continues to fatter me. Likewise I am indebted to the Government Communication Service who have overseen the book’s production, especially Rebecca Trelfall and Amelie Gericke. Te latter has been a model of eficiency and patience when it has come to arranging meetings, ordering materials and reading every draft and redraft of the text over the last few months. I am also grateful for the efforts of Gabriel Milland – lately of the GCS – that laid much of the groundwork for the volume. However, I would never even have set foot in the Cabinet Ofice had Tom Kelsey of the Historians in Residence programme at King’s College London not put my name forward. I am also hugely grateful to numerous other people at King’s and within the wider University of London. In particular the contemporary historians of the Department of Political Economy – among them my doctoral supervisors Michael Kandiah and Keith Hamilton – and those associated with the International History Seminar of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) – Michael Dockrill, Matthew Glencross, Kate Utting as well as many others – have been a constant source of advice and encouragement.
    [Show full text]
  • The Machinery of Government (And How to Reform It) a Rescue Plan for the Public Sector William Norton
    The Machinery of Government (And how to reform it) A rescue plan for the public sector William Norton Foreword by Tim Montgomerie A ConservativeHome Special Report TheMachineryofGovern#3AC4A5.doc 1 William Norton is a qualified solicitor specialising in tax and business advice, with eight years experience working in the City, William has been an adviser on tax affairs and legislation to the Conservative frontbench since 1998. He was a member of the permanent staff of the James Review on Taxpayer Value (2004-5) and wrote the reports on Defra, DTI, the Department of Health and the Home Office. He was subsequently attached to the Conservative Party Policy Unit and oversaw the Kill Or Keep Review of quangos and the drafting of the Deregulation Bill proposals. William is a trustee of the Social Affairs Unit. William is the joint author (with Charles Elphicke) of The Case For Reducing Business Taxes (CPS Perspectives, 2006) and also Flatlining: Analysing the institutions running the NHS in London (TPA Value For Money Review Paper 1, 2006). Tim Montgomerie is the Editor of ConservativeHome.com William Norton would like to express his thanks for assistance and advice received from Matthew Elliott and James Frayne of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Dan Lewis of the Economic Research Council and Mike Denham. This book builds upon research undertaken during the James Review and in that regard the author would like to acknowledge past assistance from David James, Tony Caplin and Iain Corby and also his former colleagues in the Conservative Party Policy Unit for advice at that time: Greg Clark, John Tate, Karen Bradley, Danny Kruger, Douglas Carswell, Peter Franklin and Scott Kelly.
    [Show full text]
  • Change in Government: the Agenda for Leadership
    House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Change in Government: the agenda for leadership Thirteenth Report of Session 2010–12 Volume I: Report and Appendices, together with formal minutes and oral and written evidence Additional written evidence is contained in Volume II, available on the committee website at www.parliament.uk/pasc Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 September 2011 HC 714 Published on 22 September 2011 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £17.50 The Public Administration Select Committee The Public Administration Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by civil service departments, and other matters relating to the civil service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Nick de Bois MP (Conservative, Enfield North) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Michael Dugher MP (Labour, Barnsley East) Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative, Dover) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Lib Dem, Leeds North West) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) The following member was also a member of the Committee during the inquiry. Mr Charles Walker MP (Conservative, Broxbourne) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 146.
    [Show full text]
  • What's the R in OCR? Exploring OCR's RSA Heritage
    What’s the R in OCR? Exploring OCR’s RSA heritage – Paul Steer (Lecture first given by OCR’s Head of Policy Paul Steer to mark 25 years of vocational qualifications at Progress House in Coventry) Cast your mind back to the 1990s. Oasis and the Spice Girls were riding high in the charts and John Major found himself elected as a Conservative Prime Minister, much against what was predicted in the polls. The early 1990s were a time of recession; the Gulf War; ratification of the Maastricht treaty (complete with anti-Europe backbenchers); the forced exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism ("Black Wednesday"); the privatisation of British Rail; the National Lottery; Sunday shopping; the "Back to Basics" campaign; the Dangerous Dogs Act; and the Cones Hotline. You should be in the zone now. So it was that in 1990, the RSA Examinations Board which had offered vocational qualifications since the mid-1850s, relocated from London to brand new, purpose built premises in Coventry, complete with warehouse and print facilities. It also had barely a single meeting room – in one of RSA’s less prescient moments on the changing workplace, they predicted that meetings would become a thing of the past. And just a few years later, RSA Examinations Board and UCLES (the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) merged to form OCR. Relocation, relocation, relocation Relocation out of London was to become something of a fashion, reaching a crescendo with Michael Lyons’ Review of Public Sector Relocations 2004 which led to a large part of the Department for Education and Skills moving to Sheffield, and to the consolidation of Coventry as something as a centre for education-related government including the Further Education Funding Council, soon to become the Learning and Skills Council, the Adult Learning Inspectorate and, eventually, the home of the new exams regulator, Ofqual.
    [Show full text]
  • 100 Years of Government Communication
    AZ McKenna 100 Years of Government Communication AZ McKenna John Buchan, the frst Director of Information appointed in 1917 Front cover: A press conference at the Ministry of Information, 1944 For my parents and grandparents © Crown copyright 2018 Tis publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/ doc/open-government-licence/version/3 Where we have identifed any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. 100 YEARS OF GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must frstly record my thanks to Alex Aiken, Executive Director of Government Communication, who commissioned me to write this book. His interest in it throughout its development continues to fatter me. Likewise I am indebted to the Government Communication Service who have overseen the book’s production, especially Rebecca Trelfall and Amelie Gericke. Te latter has been a model of eficiency and patience when it has come to arranging meetings, ordering materials and reading every draft and redraft of the text over the last few months. I am also grateful for the efforts of Gabriel Milland – lately of the GCS – that laid much of the groundwork for the volume. However, I would never even have set foot in the Cabinet Ofice had Tom Kelsey of the Historians in Residence programme at King’s College London not put my name forward. I am also hugely grateful to numerous other people at King’s and within the wider University of London. In particular the contemporary historians of the Department of Political Economy – among them my doctoral supervisors Michael Kandiah and Keith Hamilton – and those associated with the International History Seminar of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) – Michael Dockrill, Matthew Glencross, Kate Utting as well as many others – have been a constant source of advice and encouragement.
    [Show full text]
  • Prime Ministers General Appoint- Party Policy and Events Election Ment Prime Minister
    English > Civilisation > U.K. > Latest Prime Ministers General Appoint- Party Policy and events Election ment Prime Minister ....................................., .....................................; News of the World phone hacking ................................. ....................... scandal; Referendum on ..............................................; Opposition to EU; Deputy PM Controversies over Arms sales to Middle East countries; Response to Civil War in ................................. ....................... 2010 2010 Syria and emergence of The Islamic State London car bombs; Glasgow Airport attack; foot-and-mouth outbreak (2007); national floods of 2007; child benefit data misplaced; Donorgate; Northern Rock ................................. ....................... nationalisation, Treaty of Lisbon; 42 Days detention; 10p Tax rate; ................................. of 2007–2010; ............................................................. ; arrest of 2007 Damien Green; 2009 flu pandemic; national floods of 2009. 2005 Hong Kong handover; .......................................................; Independence for the Bank of England; Ecclestone tobacco controversy; ...................................; Human 2001 Rights Act; .......................................................; House of Lords Reform,...........................................................; Kosovo War; creation of Greater ................................. ....................... London Authority and Mayoralty of London; ............................;
    [Show full text]
  • Truth to Power: How Civil Service Reform Can Succeed
    House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) Truth to power: how Civil Service reform can succeed Eighth Report of Session 2013–14 Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes, oral evidence Written evidence is contained in Volume II, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/pasc Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 3 September 2013 HC 74 [incorporating HC 664-i-x,Session 2012–13] Published on 6 September 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £29.40 The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) The Public Administration Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by civil service departments, and other matters relating to the civil service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative, Dover) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West) Priti Patel MP (Conservative, Witham) Mr Steve Reed MP (Labour, Croydon North) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 146. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House.
    [Show full text]
  • PAYING for the CREDIT CRUNCH Sharing the Proceeds of Thrift
    www.taxpayersalliance.com PAYING FOR THE CREDIT CRUNCH Sharing the proceeds of thrift William Norton Foreword by Matthew Sinclair Contents Foreword by Matthew Sinclair 4 Preface 5 Executive Summary 7 Abbreviations 9 Chapter 1: The spiral of instability in the public sector 10 Chapter 2: Previous reforms of the machinery of Government 16 Chapter 3: How much waste is there? 27 Chapter 4: Paying for the credit crunch 41 Chapter 5: How to reform Government 57 Appendix I: Changes in the size of the Government 62 Appendix II: The machinery of Government today 68 Appendix III: Ministerial departments 78 Appendix IV: NMDs and Parliamentary bodies 106 Appendix V: The Quango State as at 31 March 2007 129 Appendix VI: The structure of the public finances 131 Appendix VII: How to hide civil servants 139 43 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9JA www.taxpayersalliance.com 2 0845 330 9554 (office hours) 07795 084 113 (media – 24 hours) About the authors William Norton , author of the report, is a qualified solicitor with over fifteen years experience providing tax and business advice in the City of London. He has been on the advisory panel for tax affairs and legislation to the Conservative frontbench since 1998. William was a member of the permanent staff of the James Review on Taxpayer Value (2004-5) and wrote the reports on Defra, DTI, the Department of Health and the Home Office. He was subsequently attached to the Conservative Party Policy Unit and oversaw the Kill Or Keep Review of quangos and the drafting of the Deregulation Bill proposals.
    [Show full text]
  • MASTER THESIS Letters and Foreign Languages English Language Literature and Civilization Mmm
    Mohamed Khider University of Biskra Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of Foreign Languages MASTER THESIS Letters and Foreign Languages English Language Literature and Civilization mmm Submitted and Defended by: BENLOUANAS Amina Political Leadership Performance and Style of British Premiership (1979-1997): Case Study of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and John Major (1990-1997) Board of Examiners: Mrs. ZERIGUI Naima M.A.B University of Biskra Supervisor Mrs. AMRI CHENINI M.A.B University of Biskra Boutheina Mr. Smatti Said M.A.B University of Biskra 2019/2020 Dedication To my restless parents who believed in me more than myself, my dynamic siblings who make my life eventful; and my younger aunt who motivates me. My friends Amina, Fatiha, Latifa, Hadjer and Safa who constantly help me get through rough times; and lastly to my lost girl who is trying to find her purpose in life. All of whom I appreciate their existence and cherish. Love you! I Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my teacher and supervisor Mrs. Zerigui Naima for her support, guidance and tolerance. I am honored to have had the opportunity to be taught and supervised by you. Moreover, I would like to thank the jury members for evaluating my work namely Mr.Smatti and Mrs.Chenini. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Kerboua Salim for the beneficial books he offered for this research. Additionally I would love to thank Chokri Zribi, Abir Drissat, and Safia Reguig for assisting me in collecting articles and books for my research. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of my wonderful teachers in the Department of English, among which are Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • A Reassessment of the Leadership of John Major Using the Greenstein Model
    1 A Reassessment of the Leadership of John Major using the Greenstein Model Thomas Ian McMeeking Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Leeds School of Politics and International Studies June 2018 2 Declaration The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own, except where work which has formed part of jointly authored publications has been included. The contribution of the candidate and the other authors to this work has been explicitly indicated below. The candidate confirms that appropriate credit has been given within the thesis where reference has been made to the work of others. Chapters of thesis which will include work which has been published in jointly-authored publications with details of the publications (e.g. title, authors, publication etc.): Public communicator chapter (Chapter three), which will include work from: Heppell, T. and McMeeking, T. (2015) The oratory of John Major, in Hayton, R. and Crines, A. (editors) Conservative orators from Baldwin to Cameron. Manchester University Press: Manchester. Details of the work which is directly attributable to you and details of the contribution of the other authors to the work: My role was in the research preparation stage for the book chapter I did with my supervisor, Dr Tim Heppell, published in 2015, on The oratory of John Major. This chiefly involved a detailed breakdown for Dr Heppell of Anthony Seldon's book: Major: A Political Life (Seldon 1997), specifically targeting sections and paragraphs from Seldon which referenced John Major's speeches at different forums and on different platforms during his premiership.
    [Show full text]
  • Thatcher and the Conservative Governments of 1979-1997
    Pre-U, Paper 1c: British History Outlines The Iron Lady – Thatcher and the Conservative governments of 1979-1997 By any measure, Margaret Thatcher was one of the more remarkable inhabitants of number 10, and certainly one of the most controversial. In retrospect, the 1979 general election might be seen as the one of the three most important of the century, along with 1906 and 1945: those two moved the centre of British political life to the left, Thatcherism changed course. In that, and many other sense s we are all Thatcher’s children THE FALL OF TED HEATH & MARGARET THATCHER’S RISE TO POWER Use Flagship pp 70-71 And Tides of History https://tidesofhistory.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/precisely-the-sort-of- candidate-who-ought-to-be-able-to-stand-and-lose-harmlessly-is-corbyn-the-modern-day-thatcher/ One of the hallmarks of the post-war Conservative has been the way it has been littered with the tombstones of future Tory leaders. Arguably, the obvious successors for the Tory leadership have fallen by the wayside every time since Macmillan, certainly since Heath. Thatcher was an outsider because she was a woman, came from the right and had only been at education Heath’s relations with his colleagues were often poor; he and Thatcher came to detest each other Heath’s election defeats in 1974 fatally damaged him (he lost three of the four elections he fought as leader). After his defeat in October 1974, his support on the backbenches waned Enoch Powell was now beyond the pale, but his economic ideas, as well as his general sense that the country had moved too far to the left, was on the rise Under the aegis of Sir Keith Joseph, Thatcher became what we would later call a Thatcherite When Joseph blotted his copybook, Thatcher was on the only plausible candidate on the right of the party.
    [Show full text]