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Mr Andrew Morel

BA, MA, PGCE, MEd

Ysgol Uwchradd Llanidloes High School

Politics AS Spring 2024 Sessions:

  • Session 1: Comparison between the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights
  • Session 2: Comparison of the House of Lords and House of Commons
  • Session 3: Comparison between the Prime Minister (UK) and First Minister (Wales)

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Task:

Revision is about re-using the knowledge you have to ensure it is familiar in your mind; clearly siloed with the specification; and to make connections to use that knowledge in new ways.

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These are all things the exam you’ll sit will require.

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Therefore, use this venn diagram whilst listening to this revision video to help do these three things.

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Who is who?

Prime Minister (PM) - UK Government

First Minister (FM) – Welsh Government

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Role of the PM of the UK

    • Although their role is shared to some extent with other ministers, the cabinet and their party, the PM is completely pre-eminent in making the government’s policies.

Chief policy maker

    • The PM is in charge of the machinery of government. They can create new posts and new departments (as well as abolishing them). They are the head of the Civil Service and can seek advice from its vast machinery. They chair cabinet meetings, determining their agenda and controlling the system of cabinet committees that underpins it. The PM has the task of determining which individuals should hold posts as ministers, senior judges and bishops/archbishops in the Church of England.

Head of government

    • The PM is expected to be the ultimate source of the official version of government policy to the media. The definitive version of policy MUST come from the PM.

Chief government spokesperson

    • Although it is the decision of the King to whether or not to commit British troops to Battle or to any other role he does so only on the advice of the Prime Minister. E.g. Tony Bair committed British forces to action in Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein. David Cameron committed the air force to airstrikes in Syria from 2014

De-facto Commander-in-chief of armed forces

    • This function is carried out for the monarch. This can range from negotiating with foreign powers to signing treaties to chairing international meetings. E.g. Blair chaired meetings of the G8 of leading nations and Boris Johnson took a leading role in COP26 held in Glasgow in 2021

Chief foreign-policy maker

    • The PM is responsible for leading their party in parliament in PMQs and other debates. They are also in overall control of the government’s strategy within both houses.

Parliamentary Leader

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Role of the FM of Wales

    • Although their role is shared to some extent with other ministers, the cabinet and their party, the FM is completely pre-eminent in making the government’s policies within areas the Welsh Government are responsible for such as education and environment .

Chief policy maker

    • The FM is in charge of the machinery of government. They can restructure government departments by creating as well as abolishing them within the areas the Welsh Government has responsibility for. They chair Welsh Government cabinet meetings, determining their agenda. The FM has the task of determining which individuals should hold posts as ministers.

Head of Welsh government

    • The FM is expected to be the ultimate source of the official version of Welsh government policy to the media. The definitive version of policy MUST come from the FM.

Chief government spokesperson

    • The FM is responsible for leading their party in the Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament in FMQs (plenary) and other debates. They are also in overall control of the government’s strategy within the senedd/parliament.

Parliamentary Leader

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales

The Prime Minister and First Minister has the following powers:

Patronage

Authority within the Cabinet system

Party Leadership

Public Standing

Policy Making Role

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales- Patronage

PM

  • Appoints ministers and allocates cabinet posts (including reshuffles)
  • Dismisses Ministers
  • Creates ‘Lords’
  • Honours such as Knighthoods are approved by the PM

These are constrained by: potential rivals as centres of power, the need for an ideological balance in government, the Monarch’s approval.

FM

  • Appoints ministers and allocates post in Welsh Government (including reshuffles)
  • Dismisses Ministers

There are constrained by potential rivals for power, ideological balance, the Monarch’s approval, the Prime Minister continuing to support devolution

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales- Authority within the Cabinet System

PM

  • Chairs Cabinet and sets the agenda
  • Steers and sums up discussions and outcomes of cabinet meetings
  • Holds one-to-one meetings with key ministers
  • Sometimes by-passes the Cabinet altogether as seen in some of the COVID inquiry as to Johnson’s time as PM

This is constrained by the need to maintain support of all 23 cabinet members. Avoid senior figures challenging the PMs preferred policies and not involved in detailed cabinet committees.

FM

  • Chairs Cabinet and sets the agenda
  • Steers and sums up discussions outcomes of cabinet meetings
  • Holds one to one meetings with key ministers
  • Sometimes by-passes the Cabinet altogether

This is constrained by the need to maintain support of all 11 cabinet members. Not involved in detailed cabinet discussions

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales- Party Leadership

PM

  • Authority as the leader of their political party
  • Elected by MPs and (sometimes) party members
  • Biggest political party in the House of Commons

This is constrained by the fact the party’s support is not unconditional and backbench rebellions can occur.

FM

  • Authority as the leader of their political party
  • Elected by MSs and (sometimes) party members
  • Biggest political party Senedd

This is constrained by the fact the party’s support is no unconditional, backbench rebellions can occur and the electoral system makes it less common than a UK level to have a majority in the Senedd

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales- Public Standing

PM

  • Very high public profile
  • Communication-in-chief for the government
  • Political leader in times of crises
  • Represents the country in international affairs

This is constrained when unpopular with the electorate which undermines power and they may become to focused on the media

FM

  • Somewhat high public profile
  • Communication-in-chief for the government
  • Political leader in times of crises

This is constrained when unpopular with the electorate which undermines power.

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Powers of the PM of the UK and FM of Wales- Policy making role

PM

  • directs government policy and sets the agenda
  • authority to become involved in policy areas of choosing
  • takes the key role in times of crisis

This is constrained by limited time and lack of detailed knowledge, lacks the resource of a government department, achieving policy success is difficult

FM

  • directs government policy on devolved matters and sets the agenda
  • authority to become involved in policy areas of choosing
  • takes the key role in times of crisis

This is constrained by limited time and lack of detailed knowledge, lacks the resource of a government department, achieving policy success is difficult

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The Ruling Party

    • The PM has the support of his party both in parliament and in the country in the form of ordinary members. Since his party has won the right to govern, the PM carries their party’s elective authority with them.

The royal prerogative

    • The reigning monarch retains (in theory and law), the power to carry out the functions of the head of state, such as commanding the armed forces. In a democracy we cannot allow an unelected monarch to exercise these powers and so the authority to exercise these ‘prerogative powers’ is delegated to the PM with the King’s support.

Popular mandate

    • Although technically the voters are choosing the MP and a party, they are also conscious that they are electing a PM. Research suggest that the leader of the party is becoming more and more in important when it comes to deciding who to vote for at an election. Thus, the victorious PM can claim to enjoy the authority of the electorate. (This does not apply to PMs who came to office between elections. Thus weakening their authority. E.g. Sunak 2022)

Parliament

    • The PM is the parliamentary leader and as long as they have the support of a majority of the H of C they can claim parliamentary authority.
    • Some PMs have enhanced the power gained with their own personal qualities to add to the four sources of authority:
    • Tony Blair – seen as a charismatic figure thus increasing authority and power.
    • Boris Johnson by high huge electoral win especially among those who would have voted Labour

Resources of PM of the UK (support)

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The Ruling Party

    • The First Minister (FM) has the support of his party both in the Senedd and in the country in the form of ordinary members. Since their party has won the right to govern, the FM carries thier party’s elective authority with them.

The royal prerogative

    • The reigning monarch retains (in theory and law), the power to carry out the functions of the head of state, but in reality they can’t govern alone. The monarch supports Devolution and therefore supports the role of the First Minister.

Devolved powers:

The UK parliament has devolved a number of powers to the Welsh Government for them to make policy on laws on themselves- this was done in varios Government of Wales Acts.

Popular mandate

    • Although technically the voters are choosing the MS and a party, they are also conscious that they are electing a First Minister. Research suggest that the leader of the party is becoming more and more in important when it comes to deciding who to vote for at an election. Thus, the victorious FM can claim to enjoy the authority of the electorate. This does not apply to FMs who came to office between elections. Thus weakening their authority. E.g. the replacement for Mark Drakeford in March.

The Senedd

    • The FM is the Senedd leader and as long as he has the support of a majority of the Senedd they can claim authority.

Resources of FM of Wales (support)

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Resources of PM of the UK and FM of Wales

Prime Minister UK

£1200 billion annual budget

  • Prime Minister’s Office with a permanent secretary and civil servants provides advice and support better enables PM to direct policy and act as a communicator
  • appoints special advisers
  • However, the Prime Ministers recourses are often limited by the power of other government departments, especially the Treasury who may resist raising taxes etc.

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First Minister Wales

  • £20 billion annual budget
  • Appoints special advisers

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Section B in the Exam:

  • This is an exam question from section be of the Unit 1 paper in 2019. As you can see the specific question ask you to compare and contrast the role of
  • To do this you would need to identify similarities and differences.

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Section B in the Exam:

  • This is exactly what we have been doing and the question opposite could very feasibly be an exam question

The First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government and is appointed by HM the King following nomination by Members of Senedd.

The First Minister's responsibilities include:

appointing the Cabinet of Welsh Ministers, Deputy Ministers and the Counsel General (with the approval of His Majesty) who comprise the Welsh Government

chairing Cabinet meetings and exercising the functions of the Welsh Government

leading policy development and delivery

managing relationships with the rest of the UK and internationally

representing the people of Wales on official business

Read the extract below and answer the question that follows:

Extract adapted from the Welsh Parliament/Senedd Cymru’s website. Published in 2020

Using extract A as well as your own knowledge compare and contrast the roles, powers and resources of the Prime Minister and First Minister of Wales [24]

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Section B in the Exam:

Structure:

  • Use extract to identify similarities
  • Use extract to identify differences
  • Use your own knowledge to identify similarities
  • Use your own knowledge to identify differences

Read the extract below and answer the question that follows:

Extract adapted from the Welsh Parliament/Senedd Cymru’s website. Published in 2020

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Using extract A as well as your own knowledge compare and contrast the roles, powers and resources of the Prime Minister and First Minister of Wales [24]

The First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government and is appointed by HM the King following nomination by Members of Senedd.

The First Minister's responsibilities include:

appointing the Cabinet of Welsh Ministers, Deputy Ministers and the Counsel General (with the approval of His Majesty) who comprise the Welsh Government

chairing Cabinet meetings and exercising the functions of the Welsh Government

leading policy development and delivery

managing relationships with the rest of the UK and internationally

representing the people of Wales on official business

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Politics AS Level

Timetable:

  • Session 1: Comparison between the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights
  • Session 2: Comparison of the House of Lords and House of Commons
  • Session 3: Comparison between the Prime Minister (UK) and First Minister (Wales)

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We will hold a Live Question and Answer session on Tuesday 6th February 2024 between 18.30 and 19.15. Join us to ask anything you are unsure of.

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Thank you very much for using this resource as I have shared with you some tips to succeed at Politics AS. All the very best in your exams!