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How Coalition Government Has Affected The Role And Functions Of The Prime Minister And Cabinet

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How Coalition Government Has Affected The Role And Functions Of The Prime Minister And Cabinet
How the coalition government has affected the role and functions of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
This essay aims to explain the effects of the established coalition government on the roles and functions of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In order to present the topic properly, the roles and functions of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before the establishment of coalition government are introduced first. Subsequently, the changes in their roles and functions are presented in context of several examples, in comparison to the previous situations before the coalition government.

Historically, the Prime Minister is head of government, chief policy maker, and party leader. The power of the Prime Minister included the appointment and the reshuffle of the Cabinet, power of dissolution, and other prerogative powers like Honor recommendations. The …show more content…
One major change that occurs in the Prime Minister’s function is that Cabinet appointments are now the result of negotiation between the parties, compared with the previous arbitrary appointment made by the Prime Minister. Previously, the Prime Minister appointed Cabinet members and allocated portfolios to its own party members only, thus making the Cabinet completely dominated by one party. Currently, in comparison, the appointments are to be agreed between the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (HM government, 2010a). Similarly, any changes in the allocation of portfolios between the Parliamentary Parties during the Coalition period are also to be agreed between the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. For instance, the current coalition stipulates that the Liberal Democrats shall occupy five Cabinet vacancies; and that Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister is at liberty to decide which of the Liberal Democrats’ MPs shall be allocated these five spots
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