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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   The Prime Minister is in practice the most important political office
   in the United Kingdom. He acts as the head of Her Majesty's Government
   and like other Prime Ministers in Westminster Systems is (along with
   his Cabinet) the de facto source of executive power in the British
   Government. As such, he exercises many of the executive functions
   nominally vested in the Sovereign, the theoretical source of executive
   power in the British Government. According to custom, the Prime
   Minister and the Cabinet (which he or she heads) are accountable for
   their actions to Parliament, of which they are members by modern
   convention. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair (of the Labour
   Party), who has been in office since May 1997. For the complete list of
   British Prime Ministers, see List of Prime Ministers of the United
   Kingdom.

   As the title suggests, the Prime Minister is the monarch's principal
   advisor. Historically, the monarch's chief minister (if, as was not
   always the case, any one person could be singled out as such) might
   have held any of a number of offices: Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of
   Canterbury, Lord High Steward, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Privy
   Seal, or Secretary of State among others. With the emergence, in the
   18th century, of government by a cabinet of these ministers, its head
   came in time to be called the "Prime Minister" (sometimes also
   "Premier" or "First Minister"). The first person to be officially
   called "Prime Minister" was Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. To this day
   the Prime Minister always also holds one of the more specific
   ministerial positions (since 1905 that of First Lord of the Treasury),
   as well as Minister for the Civil Service. Sir Robert Walpole is
   generally regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense,
   although technically it is Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, as Walpole
   only held the title of First Lord of the Treasury.

   The Prime Minister is appointed by the Sovereign, who is bound by
   constitutional convention to choose the individual most likely to
   command the support of the House of Commons (normally, the leader of
   the party with a majority in that body). Should the Prime Minister lose
   the confidence of the House of Commons (indicated, for example, by the
   passage of a no confidence motion), he or she is morally obliged by
   similar conventions either to resign (in which case the Sovereign can
   try to find another Prime Minister who has the House's confidence) or
   to request the monarch to call a general election. Since the
   premiership is in some small sense still a de facto position, the
   office's powers are mainly a matter of custom rather than law, deriving
   from the incumbent's ability to appoint (through the Sovereign) his or
   her Cabinet colleagues, as well as from certain uses of the royal
   prerogative which may be exercised directly by the Prime Minister, or
   by the Monarch on the Prime Minister's advice. Some commentators have
   pointed out that, in practice, the powers of the office are subject to
   very few checks, especially in an era when Parliament and the Cabinet
   are seen as unwilling to challenge dominant Prime Ministers as they are
   bound by a policy of collective cabinet responsibility.

History

   The bulk of the power over parliment of the United Kingdom has
   historically been vested in the Sovereign, acting on the advice of
   bodies such as Parliament and the Privy Council. Over several years,
   the Cabinet evolved from the Privy Council, as the monarch began the
   practice of consulting a few confidential advisers rather than the
   Council at large. These bodies, however, bore little resemblance to
   modern Cabinets; they were often not led by a single figure such as a
   Prime Minister, they often failed to act in unison, and they were
   appointed and dismissed entirely at the whim of the monarch, with
   little parliamentary control.

   The history of the British Prime Ministers owes much more to
   speculation of historians, rather than to legal acts. The origin of the
   term prime minister and the question to whom the designation should
   first be applied have long been issues of scholarly and political
   debate.

   The first mention of "Prime Minister" in an official government
   document occurred during the premiership of Benjamin Disraeli. The
   title was used since then in documents, letters and conversation (and
   in conversation at least may have been used before then). In 1905 the
   title "Prime Minister" was noted in a royal warrant that placed the
   Prime Minister, mentioned as such, in the order of precedence in
   Britain immediately after the Archbishop of York. By this time legal
   recognition of the title seems to have occurred and it was later
   mentioned in the Chequers Estate Act 1917, and the Ministers of the
   Crown Act 1937.

   There are numerous categorical testimonies deep into the 19th century
   decrying the notion of a First or Prime Minister, credibly declaring
   the concept alien to the Constitution, and the term actually emerges as
   a creature of historians, not lawyers or Parliament — indeed the
   contrary is best documented.

   In 1741, it was declared in the Commons that "According to our
   Constitution we can have no sole and prime minister . . . every . . .
   officer has his own proper department; and no officer ought to meddle
   in the affairs belonging to the department of another." In the same
   year the Lords agreed that "We are persuaded that a sole, or even a
   first minister, is an officer unknown to the law of Britain,
   inconsistent with the Constitution of the country and destructive of
   liberty in any Government whatsoever." These were very much partisan
   assessments of the day, however.

   On the other hand, in an interview by Lord Melville with William Pitt
   in 1803, the latter argued that "this person generally called the first
   minister" was an absolute necessity for a government to function, and
   expressed his belief that this person should be the minister in charge
   of the finances. In 1806, it was asserted in the Commons that "the
   Constitution abhors the idea of a prime minister", and as late as 1829
   the Commons again asserted that "nothing could be more mischievous or
   unconstitutional than to recognise by act of parliament the existence
   of such an office."

   Beatson's Political Index of 1786 gives the list of Prime Ministers and
   Favourites from the Accession of Henry VIII to the Present Time. Since
   1714, Beatson could only find one Sole Minister, and that was Sir
   Robert Walpole. At all subsequent periods he felt that he had to
   bracket two, three, or even four people as joint or co-equal ministers
   whose advice the King took, and who therefore controlled the governance
   of the country.

   The first Act of Parliament to mention the office of Prime Minister was
   the Chequers Estate Act, which received the Royal Assent on December
   20, 1917. It dealt with the gift to the Crown of the Chequers Estate by
   Sir Arthur and Lady Lee, for use as a country home for future Prime
   Ministers.

   Finally, the Ministers of the Crown Act, which received the Royal
   Assent on July 1, 1937, gave official recognition to the position of
   Prime Minister and made provision for paying "the First Lord of the
   Treasury and Prime Minister" — the two offices that since the 18th
   century, have usually been held by the Prime Minister:

   To give statutory recognition to the existence of the position of Prime
   Minister, and to the historic link between the Premiership and the
   office of First Lord of the Treasury, by providing in respect to that
   position and office a salary of…

   The Act made a certain distinction between "position" (Prime Minister)
   and "office" (First Lord of the Treasury), emphasising the unique
   character of the position and recognising the existence of the Cabinet.
   Nevertheless, in spite of this recognition, the brass plate outside the
   Prime Minister's front door still bears the title of "First Lord of the
   Treasury."

   The lack of official recognition for the position of Prime Minister
   sometimes causes problems when trying to positively identify prime
   ministers in the British history. Thus, every list of British Prime
   Ministers may omit certain politicians, depending on the criteria
   selected by a researcher. For instance, unsuccessful attempts to form
   ministries, such as that of Lord Granville in 1746, or the summons of
   the sovereign to ministers who refused to form a ministry are often
   ignored.

   The origins of the modern term "Prime Minister" date back to the time
   after the Glorious Revolution (1688), when Parliament's power began to
   grow steadily at the expense of that of the monarch. It was under
   William III and his successor, Anne, that the Cabinet began to take its
   modern shape. Individuals such as Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of
   Godolphin and Robert Harley were recognised as the leaders of their
   respective ministries, but they cannot be considered Prime Ministers in
   the modern sense, given that they exercised little control over their
   colleagues. Similarly, the Cabinets of Anne's successor, George I, were
   led by individuals such as Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend,
   James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of
   Sunderland, but these individuals were not truly Prime Ministers, as we
   now understand the office.
   Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole, studio of Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1740.
   Sir Robert Walpole is normally considered to be Great Britain's first
   Prime Minister.
   Enlarge
   Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole, studio of Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1740.
   Sir Robert Walpole is normally considered to be Great Britain's first
   Prime Minister.

   Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland, who were joint leaders of their
   Cabinet, were succeeded in 1721 by Sir Robert Walpole, who held the
   influential office of First Lord of the Treasury. Previous holders of
   the post had often been important figures in government, but not to
   such a degree as Walpole. His influence grew even stronger because the
   King, George I, was not active in English politics, preferring to
   concentrate on his native Hanover. Walpole is generally regarded as the
   first Prime Minister, not just because of his influence in Government,
   but because he could persuade (or force) his colleagues in the Cabinet
   to act in a harmonious and unified fashion, instead of intriguing
   against each other for more power. Walpole's office, First Lord of the
   Treasury, became strongly associated with the leadership of the
   Government; it became the position which the Prime Minister almost
   always held.

   Though Walpole is considered the first "Prime Minister," these words
   were used as a term of reproach by his political opponents. His tenure
   was not as important in terms of constitutional development as some
   have imagined. His term and power were primarily based on the favour of
   the Crown, rather than the support of the House of Commons. His
   immediate successors were not nearly as powerful as he; the influence
   of the Crown continued to remain paramount. Still, the powers of the
   monarch were slowly diminished, and those of the Prime Minister
   gradually increased, over the course of the following years. Indeed,
   during the last years of George II's life, policy was chiefly directed
   by Ministers such as William Pitt the Elder.

   The reign of George III, which began in 1760 upon the death of George
   II, is particularly notable for developments in the office of Prime
   Minister. Over the course of his reign, the King was sometimes forced
   by parliamentary pressure to appoint Prime Ministers and Ministers whom
   he did not personally favour. Control over the composition of the
   Cabinet had not, however, been completely lost by the King; in some
   cases, George was able to prevent the appointment of politicians whom
   he detested (for instance, Charles James Fox). The influence of the
   monarch nevertheless continued to gradually wane; this trend became
   clearly noticeable during the reign of William IV, the last King to
   appoint a Prime Minister against the wishes of Parliament. William
   attempted to impose his personal will in 1834, when he dismissed
   William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (whose Whig administration he
   disliked) and replaced him with a Tory, Sir Robert Peel. Peel, however,
   found it impossible to govern without the support of the Whig-dominated
   House of Commons, and was forced to resign from his position. Since
   Peel's administration, the Sovereign has had very little discretion in
   appointing Prime Ministers; no monarch since William IV has attempted
   to appoint a Prime Minister against the wishes of Parliament (although
   Winston Churchill was appointed during the early days of the Second
   World War by the King despite the Conservatives not holding a majority
   in the United Kingdom Parliament at the time).

   As the Royal influence over ministerial appointments disappeared, the
   power of the House of Commons rose, its political superiority over the
   House of Lords being established by the Parliament Act 1911. During the
   early twentieth century, the convention that the Prime Minister should
   be responsible not to the Lords, but to the Commons, took root. The
   associated convention that the Prime Minister should actually be a
   member of the Lower House was developed. The last Prime Minister to
   lead his whole administration from the Lords was Robert Gascoyne-Cecil,
   3rd Marquess of Salisbury, from 1895 to 1902. Mention, however, must be
   made of the appointment of Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home in
   1963. Lord Home was the last Prime Minister who was a peer, but, within
   days of attaining office, he disclaimed his peerage, abiding by the
   convention that the Prime Minister should sit in the House of Commons.
   A junior member of his Conservative Party who had already been selected
   as candidate in a by-election in a staunch Conservative seat stood
   aside, allowing Douglas-Home to contest the by-election, win and thus
   procure a seat in the lower House.

The office

   Although in recent years it has never hindered any premier in the
   exercise of his or her office, the official status of the Prime
   Minister remains somewhat ambiguous. A Prime Minister has virtually no
   statutory authority in his or her own right; all the actual business of
   running the country and spending the budget is (in theory) carried out
   by the holders of more explicitly-defined Cabinet offices, who are
   empowered to do so by various Acts of Parliament. The Prime Minister
   holds at least one of these more tangible ministerial offices
   himself—normally First Lord of the Treasury—and indeed receives his or
   her salary and public accommodation only by virtue of that office.

   The title "Prime Minister", however, is not altogether a matter of
   convention, as in 1905 it was in a sense given official recognition
   when the "Prime Minister" was named in the " order of precedence,"
   outranked, among non-royals, only by the Archbishops of Canterbury and
   York and by the Lord Chancellor. The first prime minister in this sense
   is therefore considered by some to have been Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
   although the term "Prime Minister" first appeared on official documents
   during the premiership of Benjamin Disraeli and was used informally
   before then. Furthermore, the office is not entirely without statutory
   justification, since it has in fact been explicitly named a number of
   times in emergency wartime legislation. All sorts of official
   pronouncements are issued from Downing Street in the name of the "Prime
   Minister" without further circumlocution or explanation.

   By convention, as noted above, the Prime Minister also holds the office
   of First Lord of the Treasury. The only Prime Ministers who have not
   also served as First Lord for a significant part of their
   administrations are William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (who was Lord
   Privy Seal) and, for most of his three premierships, Robert
   Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (who was either Foreign
   Secretary or Lord Privy Seal except for the first few months of his
   second premiership when he was First Lord). Since Lord Salisbury's
   retirement in 1902, every Prime Minister has also been First Lord of
   the Treasury. Some have held yet more offices; for example until 1942
   nearly every Prime Minister was either Leader of the House of Commons
   or Leader of the House of Lords, depending upon which House they sat
   in. Some have also held specific ministerial posts; for example Ramsay
   MacDonald was both First Lord and Secretary of State for Foreign
   Affairs during his first premiership in 1924. Since the 1960s every
   prime minister has also been Minister for the Civil Service.

   More recently, there is also the associated post of Deputy Prime
   Minister. An officer with such a title need not always exist; rather,
   the existence of the post is dependent on the form of Cabinet
   organisation preferred by the Prime Minister and his or her party. The
   Deputy Prime Minister does not automatically succeed if a vacancy in
   the premiership is suddenly created, nor does he or she generally
   assume any specific additional powers when the Prime Minister is
   outside the country. It may, however, be necessary for the Deputy to
   stand in for the Prime Minister on occasion, for example by taking the
   dispatch box at Prime Minister's Question Time or by attending
   international conferences or bilateral meetings when the Prime Minister
   is unavailable. The present Deputy Prime Minister is John Prescott.

   In the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland,
   the position which corresponds with that of Prime Minister is First
   Minister. (See First Minister of Scotland, First Minister of Wales, and
   First Minister of Northern Ireland.)

Term

   The office of Prime Minister is governed not by codified laws, but by
   unwritten and, to some extent, fluid customs known as constitutional
   conventions, which have developed over years of British history. These
   conventions are for the most part founded on the underlying principle
   that the Prime Minister and his fellow Ministers must maintain the
   support of the democratically elected component of Parliament: the
   House of Commons. The Sovereign, as a constitutional monarch, always
   acts in accordance with such conventions, as do Prime Ministers
   themselves.

   Whenever the office of Prime Minister falls vacant, the Sovereign is
   responsible for appointing the new incumbent; the appointment is
   formalised at a ceremony known as Kissing Hands. In accordance with
   unwritten constitutional conventions, the Sovereign must appoint the
   individual most likely to maintain the support of the House of Commons:
   usually, the leader of the party which has a majority in that House. If
   no party has a majority (an unlikely occurrence, given the United
   Kingdom's First Past the Post electoral system), two or more groups may
   form a coalition, whose agreed leader is then appointed Prime Minister.
   The majority party becomes "Her Majesty's Government," and the next
   largest party becomes "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition." The head of the
   largest Opposition party becomes the Leader of the Opposition and holds
   the title Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.
   Margaret Thatcher is the only woman who has ever served as British
   Prime Minister, holding the office from 1979 to 1990. Photographed 18
   September 1975.
   Enlarge
   Margaret Thatcher is the only woman who has ever served as British
   Prime Minister, holding the office from 1979 to 1990. Photographed 18
   September 1975.

   The term of a Prime Minister is linked to the term of Members of the
   House of Commons. Parliament has a maximum term of five years; in
   practice, however, it is usually "dissolved" sooner by the Sovereign,
   acting on a request from the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister
   normally chooses the moment most advantageous to his or her party for
   the dissolution. In some circumstances, however, the Prime Minister may
   be compelled to dissolve Parliament (or, if he or she prefers, to
   resign) by the House of Commons. The House may attempt to force the
   dissolution by passing a Motion of No Confidence or by rejecting a
   Motion of Confidence. The same effect is achieved if the House of
   Commons rejects the Budget ("withdraws Supply"), or if it rejects some
   other important component of the Government's agenda. Such defeats for
   the Government, however, are rare; there have only been three defeats
   on confidence issues since the nineteenth century: twice in 1924, and
   once in 1979. The first in 1924 took place immediately after an
   inconclusive election result and led to an immediate change of
   government, but in the other two cases a general election was called
   (and in both, the incumbent government was defeated).

   Whatever the reason—the expiry of Parliament's five-year term, the
   choice of the Prime Minister, or a Government defeat in the House of
   Commons—the dissolution is followed by general elections. If his or her
   party has lost a majority in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister
   is compelled to resign (or request a dissolution, but the Sovereign is
   not compelled to accept such a request). The leader of the party or
   coalition now in the majority is then appointed Prime Minister by the
   Sovereign. The custom that requires the Prime Minister to resign
   immediately after an electoral loss was last broken by Edward Heath
   after the general election of February 1974, which did not produce an
   absolute majority for any party. Heath opted not to resign immediately,
   instead negotiating with a third party (the Liberal Party) to form a
   coalition. Heath did eventually resign when the negotiations failed.

   Lastly, defeats in general elections are not the only events which end
   Prime Ministerial terms. For example, Margaret Thatcher left office
   because she no longer retained the support of her own party. Prime
   Ministers are also free to resign for personal reasons (such as health
   concerns). The last Prime Minister to die in office was Henry John
   Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (in 1865). The only Prime Minister to
   be assassinated was Spencer Perceval (in 1812).

Powers and restraints

   The Prime Minister's chief duty is to "form a Government"—that is to
   say, to create a Cabinet or Ministry which will sustain the support of
   the House of Commons—when commissioned by the Sovereign. He or she
   generally co-ordinates the policies and activities of the Cabinet and
   the various Government departments, acting as the "face" of Her
   Majesty's Government. The Sovereign exercises much of his or her royal
   prerogative on the Prime Minister's advice. (For the prerogative of
   dissolving Parliament, see "Term" above.)

   The Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces is the Sovereign.
   Under longstanding parliamentary custom and practice, however, the
   Prime Minister holds de facto decision-making power over the deployment
   and disposition of British forces.

   The Prime Minister also has a wide range of powers of appointment. In
   most cases, the actual appointments are made by the Sovereign, but the
   selection and recommendation is made by the Prime Minister. Ministers,
   Privy Counsellors, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, senior civil
   servants, senior military officers, members of important committees and
   commissions, and several other officials are selected, and in some
   cases may be removed, by the Prime Minister. Furthermore, peerages,
   knighthoods, and other honours are bestowed by the Sovereign only on
   the advice of the Prime Minister. He also formally advises the
   Sovereign on the appointment of Archbishops and Bishops of the Church
   of England, but his discretion is limited by the existence of the Crown
   Nominations Commission. The appointment of senior judges, while on the
   advice of the Prime Minister for constitutional reasons, is now on the
   basis of recommendations from independent bodies. The only important
   British honours over which the Prime Minister does not have control are
   the Orders of the Garter, Thistle, and Merit, and the Royal Victorian
   Order, which are all within the "personal gift" of the Sovereign. The
   extent of the Sovereign's ability to influence the nature of the Prime
   Ministerial advice is unknown, but probably varies depending upon the
   personal relationship between the Sovereign and the Prime Minister of
   the day.
   David Lloyd George, who served from 1916 to 1922, is often cited as an
   example of a strong Prime Minister. Photograph published circa 1919.
   Enlarge
   David Lloyd George, who served from 1916 to 1922, is often cited as an
   example of a strong Prime Minister. Photograph published circa 1919.

   There exist several limits on the powers of the Prime Minister.
   Firstly, he or she is (theoretically at least) only a first among
   equals in the Cabinet. The extent of a Prime Minister's power over the
   Cabinet may vary. In some cases, the Prime Minister may be a mere
   figurehead, with actual power being wielded by one or more other
   individuals. Weak or titular Prime Ministers were more common prior to
   the twentieth century; examples include William Cavendish, 4th Duke of
   Devonshire and William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. At the
   opposite extreme, however, Prime Ministers may dominate the Cabinet so
   much that they become "Semi-Presidents." Examples of dominant Prime
   Ministers (more common during the late nineteenth and the twentieth
   centuries) include William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Neville
   Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher (who was powerful
   enough as to be able to organise her Cabinet without regard to
   Parliamentary conventions), and Tony Blair. The powers of some Prime
   Ministers waxed or waned, depending upon their own level of energy,
   political skills or outside events: Ramsay MacDonald, for example, was
   dominant in his Labour governments, but during his National Government
   his powers diminished so that by his final years in Downing Street he
   was merely the figurehead of the government. In modern times, Prime
   Ministers have never been merely titular; dominant or somewhat dominant
   personalities are the norm.

   The Prime Minister's powers are also limited by the House of Commons,
   whose support the Government is obliged to maintain. The House of
   Commons checks the powers of the Prime Minister through committee
   hearings and through Question Time, a weekly occurrence in which the
   Prime Minister is obliged to respond to the questions of the Leader of
   the Opposition and other members of the House. In practice, however, a
   Government with a strong majority need rarely fear "backbench
   rebellions."

   Members of Parliament may hold ministerial offices (by convention up to
   90 offices, of varying levels of seniority, exist), and may fear
   removal for failing to support the Prime Minister. Party discipline,
   furthermore, is very strong; a Member of Parliament may be expelled
   from his or her party for failing to support the Government on
   important issues, and although this will not mean he or she must resign
   as an MP, it would make re-election difficult for most. Restraints
   imposed by the House of Commons grow even weaker when the Government's
   party enjoys a large majority in that House. In general, the Prime
   Minister and his or her colleagues may secure the House's support for
   almost any bill.

   However, even a government with a healthy majority can on occasion find
   it is unable to pass legislation due to opposition from MPs. For
   example, on January 31 2006 Tony Blair's Government was defeated over
   proposals to outlaw religious hatred, while on November 9 2005 it was
   defeated over plans which would have allowed police to detain terror
   suspects for up to 90 days without charge. On other occasions, the
   Government may be forced to alter its proposals in order to avoid
   defeat in the Commons, as Tony Blair's Government did in February 2006
   over education reforms.

   The House of Lords is considerably less restrictive of the Prime
   Minister's power. Under the Salisbury Convention, the House of Lords
   normally does not seek to oppose any measure promised by the Government
   in its election manifesto. When the House of Lords does oppose the
   Prime Minister, it is generally ineffectual in defeating entire Bills
   (though almost all Bills are successfully modified by the Upper House
   during their passage through Parliament). Peers (members of the House
   of Lords) are created by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime
   Minister; by obtaining the creation of several new peers, the Prime
   Minister may flood the House of Lords with individuals supportive of
   his position. The threat of such a tactic was used in 1911 to ensure
   the passage of the Parliament Act 1911, which, together with the
   Parliament Act 1949, reduces the House of Lords's powers and
   establishes the supremacy of the Commons (in particular, the House of
   Lords can only delay, but not reject, most bills on which the Commons
   insist).

   The role and power of the Prime Minister have been subject to much
   change in the last fifty years. There has gradually been a change from
   Cabinet decision making and deliberation to the dominance of the Prime
   Minister. As early as 1965, in a new introduction to Walter Bagehot's
   classic work The English Constitution, Richard Crossman identified a
   new era of "Prime Ministerial" government. Some commentators, such as
   the political scientist Michael Foley, have argued there is a de facto
   "British Presidency". In Tony Blair's government, many sources such as
   former ministers have suggested that decision-making is centered around
   him and Gordon Brown, and the Cabinet is no longer used for decision
   making. Former ministers such as Clare Short and Chris Smith have
   criticised the total lack of decision-making in Cabinet. On her
   resignation, Short denounced "the centralisation of power into the
   hands of the Prime Minister and an increasingly small number of
   advisers" The Butler Review of 2004 condemned Blair's style of "sofa
   government".

   Ultimately, however, the Prime Minister will be held responsible by the
   nation for the consequences of legislation or of general government
   policy. Margaret Thatcher's party forced her from power after the
   introduction of the poll tax; Sir Anthony Eden fell from power
   following the Suez Crisis; and Neville Chamberlain resigned after being
   criticised for his handling of negotiations with Germany prior to the
   outbreak of World War II, and for failing to prevent the fall of Norway
   to the Nazi onslaught.

Precedence and privileges

   Tony Blair and Dick Cheney at the main door to 10 Downing Street, the
   Prime Minister's residence in London, on 11 March 2002.
   Enlarge
   Tony Blair and Dick Cheney at the main door to 10 Downing Street, the
   Prime Minister's residence in London, on 11 March 2002.

   The Prime Minister had no special precedence until the order of
   precedence first recognized the office in 1905. Throughout the United
   Kingdom, he outranks all others except the Royal Family, the Lord
   Chancellor, and senior ecclesiastical functionaries (in England and
   Wales, the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York; in Scotland,
   the Lord High Commissioner and the Moderator of the General Assembly of
   the Church of Scotland; in Northern Ireland, the Anglican and Roman
   Catholic Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin and the Moderator of the
   General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church).

   The Prime Minister draws his or her salary not as Prime Minister, but
   as First Lord of the Treasury. At present, he or she receives £127,334,
   in addition to his or her salary of £60,277 as a Member of Parliament.
   Until 2006 the Lord Chancellor was the highest paid member of the
   government, paid more than even the Prime Minister but after
   constitutional reform this anomaly was corrected.

   The Prime Minister traditionally resides at 10 Downing Street in
   London, which George II offered to Sir Robert Walpole as a personal
   gift. Walpole, however, only accepted it as the official home of the
   First Lord, taking up his residence there in 1735. The Prime Minister
   only resides in 10 Downing Street in his or her capacity as First Lord;
   the few nineteenth century Prime Ministers who were not First Lords
   were forced to live elsewhere. Though most First Lords have lived in 10
   Downing Street, some have preferred to reside in their private
   residences. Furthermore, some such as Harold Macmillan and John Major
   have lived in Admiralty House whilst 10 Downing Street was undergoing
   renovations or repairs.

   Adjacent to Downing Street is 11 Downing Street, the home of the Second
   Lord of the Treasury (who, in modern times, has also filled the office
   of Chancellor of the Exchequer). After he became Prime Minister in
   1997, Tony Blair found 10 Downing Street too small for his large
   family, and he swapped residences with the Chancellor and Second Lord,
   Gordon Brown. However, the Prime Ministerial offices are still
   maintained in Number 10. 12 Downing Street is the residence of the
   Chief Whip.

   The Prime Minister is also entitled to use the country house of
   Chequers in Buckinghamshire.

   The Prime Minister, like other Cabinet Ministers and senior Members of
   Parliament, is customarily a member of the Privy Council; thus, he or
   she becomes entitled to prefix " The Right Honourable" to his or her
   name. Membership of the Council is retained for life (unless the
   individual resigns it, or is expelled—both rare phenomena). It is a
   constitutional convention that only a Privy Counsellor can be appointed
   Prime Minister, but invariably all potential candidates have already
   attained this status. The only occasion when a non-Privy Councillor was
   the natural appointment was Ramsay MacDonald in 1924, but the issue was
   resolved by appointing him to the Council immediately prior to his
   appointment as Prime Minister.

Retirement honours

   It is customary for the Sovereign to grant a Prime Minister some honour
   or dignity when that individual retires from politics. The honour
   commonly, but not invariably, bestowed on Prime Ministers is membership
   of the United Kingdom's most senior order of chivalry, the Order of the
   Garter. The practice of creating retired Prime Ministers Knights of the
   Garter has been fairly prevalent since the middle-nineteenth century.
   On the retirement of a Prime Minister who is Scottish, it is likely
   that the primarily Scottish honour of the Order of the Thistle will be
   used instead of the Order of the Garter, which is generally regarded as
   an English honour.

   It has also been common for Prime Ministers to be granted peerages upon
   their retirement from the premiership. (The grant of a peerage, which
   elevates the individual to the House of Lords, may be delayed if the
   Prime Minister wishes to stay in the House of Commons for some more
   time.) Formerly, the peerage bestowed was usually an earldom (which was
   always hereditary). However, since the 1960s, hereditary peerages have
   generally been eschewed, and life peerages have been preferred. The
   granting of hereditary peerages was briefly renewed during the 1980s,
   when former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was created Earl of
   Stockton, but has not since been continued (neither Margaret Thatcher
   nor John Major accepted hereditary peerages, although Margaret Thatcher
   holds the non-hereditary title of Baroness Thatcher), and her husband,
   the late Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt, was created a baronet (which is an
   hereditary title, but not a peerage).

   Of the eighteen Prime Ministers since 1902 (excluding the current
   holder of the office), eight have been created both peers and Knights
   of the Garter; three have only been created peers; three have only
   become Knights of the Garter; and four have not been granted either
   honour—in two cases due to their death while still active in politics,
   in two others out of a wish to die a commoner.

   The retired Prime Ministers who are still living are:
     * The Rt Hon. The Baroness Thatcher LG OM PC
     * The Rt Hon. Sir John Major KG CH PC

   In November 2004, the polling company MORI, in association with the
   University of Leeds, questioned 258 political science academics in the
   United Kingdom (139 of whom replied) on the perceived success of
   twentieth century Prime Ministers. The results showed that Clement
   Attlee was rated as most successful, followed by Churchill and Lloyd
   George. Anthony Eden was rated as the least successful.

   In August 2006, BBC History Magazine historian, Francis Beckett ranked
   each 20th Century Prime Minister on how well they implemented their
   policies. Margaret Thatcher and Clement Attlee topped this poll, with
   Anthony Eden and Neville Chamberlain coming bottom. Beckett said that
   Lady Thatcher, "took one sort of society, and turned it into another".

Form of address

   According to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Prime
   Minister is made a Privy Counsellor as a result of taking office and
   should be addressed by the official title prefixed by "The Right
   Honourable" and not by a personal name.

   This form of address is employed at formal occasions but is rarely used
   by the media. Tony Blair, the current Prime Minister, is frequently
   referred in print as "the Prime Minister", "Mr Blair", "Tony Blair" or
   "Blair". Colleagues sometimes refer to him simply as "Tony". He is
   usually addressed as "Prime Minister". However, at a world leaders'
   summit, unbeknown to him, people from all over the world heard George
   W. Bush address him as "Yo Blair!"

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