Is the Prime Minister All Powerful?
The Prime Ministers of the last 25 years have been notes for deviating of what would be considered ‘Prime Ministerial’ into more of a ‘Presidential’ role. This is due to the expansion of a key power that the Prime Minister has, that of the Chief Executive, being expanded.
The expansion of this power has led to many positive outcomes, for example, when Argentina invaded the Falkland Isles; Margaret Thatcher made the decision to send a naval task force to retake the Islands. Due to the success of the war, and its relative shortness, Thatcher was praised for the executive position, boosting her position as an incredibly unpopular Prime Minister; to one of the most admired and strong ones in history. Tony Blair has also made his position as Chief Executive clear when he backed the United States in their invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks. Due to the early success, and the outrage over the attacks in 2001, Blair was given a boost in his power base, and found much support from the Parliament in the future. David Cameron got involved in the response to the large scale flooding in the south of England, due to what he believe to be a lack of action by his Environmental minister, Owen Wilson. He committed £100, 000, 000 to the flood aid and personally took control of how it was handled, increasing his power base. Despite many strong decisions being made by the Chief Executive, there have been Prime Ministers that have mishandled the powers and responsibilities that come with it. Gordon Brown, as during the crisis of the banks in 2008, he was criticised hugely for being indecisive, and despite stopping the UK’s economy from collapsing, he made it seem insignificant when he claimed he has saved the world. This shows that while Prime Ministers can make big decisions, their power base can be weakened by poor ones, which can stop them from making major decisions in the future, which differs from the role of a President.
Legislation and policies are an
The expansion of this power has led to many positive outcomes, for example, when Argentina invaded the Falkland Isles; Margaret Thatcher made the decision to send a naval task force to retake the Islands. Due to the success of the war, and its relative shortness, Thatcher was praised for the executive position, boosting her position as an incredibly unpopular Prime Minister; to one of the most admired and strong ones in history. Tony Blair has also made his position as Chief Executive clear when he backed the United States in their invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks. Due to the early success, and the outrage over the attacks in 2001, Blair was given a boost in his power base, and found much support from the Parliament in the future. David Cameron got involved in the response to the large scale flooding in the south of England, due to what he believe to be a lack of action by his Environmental minister, Owen Wilson. He committed £100, 000, 000 to the flood aid and personally took control of how it was handled, increasing his power base. Despite many strong decisions being made by the Chief Executive, there have been Prime Ministers that have mishandled the powers and responsibilities that come with it. Gordon Brown, as during the crisis of the banks in 2008, he was criticised hugely for being indecisive, and despite stopping the UK’s economy from collapsing, he made it seem insignificant when he claimed he has saved the world. This shows that while Prime Ministers can make big decisions, their power base can be weakened by poor ones, which can stop them from making major decisions in the future, which differs from the role of a President.
Legislation and policies are an