The Conventions of Individual Ministerial Responsibility and Collective Cabinet Responsibility

The Conventions of Individual Ministerial Responsibility and Collective Cabinet Responsibility 09/02/22

Cabinet changes June 2022-

Click here for resignation of Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden June 24^Th 2022

Click here for the July 2022 crisis

Click here for “The Tory MPs Who have Quit Boris Johnson’s Government Listed”

Click here for Sajid Javid resignation statement

Click here for the resignations of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak

Click here for appointment of Steve Barclay as Health Secretary

Click here for appointment of Nadhim Zahawi as Chancellor of Exchequer

Click here for Liz Truss declared Party Leader and new PM

Click here for Liz Truss’ new Cabinet

Click here and here and here for the downfall of Kwasi Kwarteng

Click here for Kwasi Kwarteng interview

Click here and here for Jeremy Hunt

Click here and here and here for Suella Braverman resignation

Click here for The Rise and Fall of Liz Truss

Click here for Who is Rishi Sunak?

Click here for Rishi Sunak announced as new Conservative leader and hence will become Prime Minister

Click here for Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet

Click here for cautious reshuffle

Click here for Suella Braverman return defended

Click here for Suella Braverman

Click here for Gavin Williamson

Click here and here and here and here for Gavin Williamson

Click here for Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet

Click here for Dominic Raab

Click here for dismissal of Nadhim Zahawi

Click here for BBC coverage of the dismissal of Nadhim Zahawi

Click here and here for BBC coverage of Cabinet Reshuffle February 7^th 2023

Click here and here and here for Guardian coverage of Cabinet Reshuffle February 7^th 2023

Cabinet Reshuffle February 2022

Click here for Cabinet reshuffle

Resignation of Lord Frost December 2021

Click here for Resignation of Lord Frost

Click here for Liz Truss and Brexit Brief

Cabinet Reshuffle September 2021

Click here and here and here and here and here and here for Cabinet reshuffle

Click here for Cabinet reshuffle

Resignation of Matt Hancock June 2021

Click here for pressure on Matt Hancock to quit

Click here for Matt Hancock’s resignation

Click here for appointment of Sajid Javid as Health Secretary

Click here and here and here for Matt Hancock

Click here and here for Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock

Click here for The Guardian Matt Hancock page

Cabinet Reshuffle February 2020

Minor Cabinet Reshuffle

Amber Rudd Resigns

Jo Jonson Resigns

Jo Johnson quits *****

Boris Johnson's First Cabinet

The Resignation of Andrea Leadsom

Click here for BBC coverage of the resignation of Andrea Leadsom
Click here and here for Guardian coverage of the resignation of Andrea Leadsom
Click here for ITV coverage of the resignation of Andrea Leadsom

Click here for The Brexit Effect from the Institute for Government. A detailed report on the implications of Brexit for the UK system of government**** .Most useful

Click here and scroll down for a diagram showing Cabinet resignations in the May, Cameron, Brown, Blair, Major and Thatcher administrations **** Most useful

Click here and scroll down a little for Cabinet resignations during the Cameron and May administrations although note that there have been further resignations from the May Cabinet since this article was published. .

Click here for list of 22Ministers who have resigned from Theresa May's government since the General Election of 2017[ including the resignations of Ministers in the House of Lords Lord Bridges; Lord Price; Baroness Aneley] From the Huffington Post. Note also a reference to the resignation of Lord Bates which was not accepted.****Most useful

Subsequently Sam Giyamah, George Eustice and Sarah Newton have also resigned. Subsequently 3 more Ministers have resigned. : Alistair Burt, Richard Harrington and Steve Brine. See below for some detailed coverage from ITV . Wales Minister Nigel Adams and Brexit Minister Chris Heaton- Harris resigned April 3rd 2019. See below for coverage

Also see below for the dismissal of Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson

Click here for an item; from Wikipedia which also includes information of resignations of Parliamentary Private Secretaries

The Dismissal Of Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and subsequent Cabinet Appointments

Click here for BBC Video Coverage and here for ITV video coverage Click here and here and here and here and here and here for the dismissal of Gavin Williamson
Click here for the appointment of Penny Morduant as Defence Secretary
Click here for appointment of Rory Stewart as International Development Secretary

The Resignation of Brexit Minister Chris Heaton- Harris

Click here and here for the resignation of Chris Heaton Harris

The Resignation of Wales Minister Nigel Adams

Click here for the resignation of Wales Minister Nigel Adams

The Resignations of Alistair Burt, Richard Harrington and Steve Brine

Ministerial resignations : detailed ITV coverage

The Resignation of Sarah Newton

Click here for the resignation of Sarah Newton

The Resignation of George Eustice

Click here for BBC coverage of the resignation of George Eustice
Click here for Guardian coverage of the resignation of George Eustice
Click here and herefor ITV coverage of the resignation of George Eustice

The Resignation/ Dismissal of Alberto Costa

Click here for Guardian coverage of the dismissal/resignation of Alberto Costa

TheResignation of Sam Gyimah

Click here for Guardian coverage of resignation of Sam Gyimah
Click here for ITV coverage of resignation of Sam Gyimah
Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Sam Gyimah

The Non -Resignation of Michael Gove

Click here for BBC coverage of the non-resignation of Michael Gove

General

Click here for Channel 4 coverage of recent Government resignations and their aftermath
Click here for Newsnight coverage of recent Government resignations and their aftermath
Click here for BBC coverage of Cabinet Ministers seeking to redraft Withdrawal agreement

Theresa May Response

Click here for BBC Coverage of Theresa May Response
Click here for Theresa May Commons Statement [i hour 55mins]

The Resignation of Suella Braverman [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 15th 2018

Click here for
Click here for

The Resignation of Esther McVey {Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 15th 2018

Click here for ITV coverage of Esther McVey resignation
Click here for BBC Live coverage of Esther McVey resignation
Click here for BBC coverage of Esther McVey's replacement Amber Rudd

The Resignation of Dominic Raab [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 15th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Dominic Raab
Click here for Guardian coverage of resignation of Dominic Raab
Click here for BBC Coverage Of Dominic Raab's replacement Stephen Barclay

The Resignation of Shailesh Vara [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 15th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of the resignation of Shailesh Vara

The Resignation of Jo Johnson [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 9th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of the resignation of Jo Johnson
Click here for Guardian coverage of the resignation of Jo Johnson
Click here for Channel 4 coverage of Jo Johnson resignation.
Click here for ITV coverage of Jo Johnson Resignation

The Resignation of Tracy Crouch [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] November 1st 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of the resignation of Tracy Crouch

The Resignation of Guto Bebb [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] July 17th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Guto Bebb

The Resignation of Andrew Griffiths July 15th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of Andrew Griffiths resignation
Click here for Guardian coverage of Andrew Griffiths resignation

The Resignation of Boris Johnson [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] July 9th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of Boris Johnson resignation
Click here for further BBC coverage of Boris Johnson resignation
Click here for Guardian coverage of Boris Johnson resignation
Click here for BBC coverage of the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as Foreign Secretary. Also Culture Secretary Matt Hancock becomes Health Secretary. Attorney General Jeremy Wright replaces Matt Hancock and backbencher Geoffrey Cox becomes Attorney General
Click here. for BBC coverage of meeting of new Cabinet
Click here for Channel 4 coverage of Cabinet resignations and aftermath

The Resignation of Steve Baker [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] July 8th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Steve Baker

The Resignation of David Davis [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] July 8th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage including the appointment of Dominic Raab
Click here for Guardian coverage

The Resignation of Greg Hands [Collective Cabinet Responsibility ]June 21st 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Greg Hands

The Resignation of Philip Lee [Collective Cabinet Responsibility] June 12th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of resignation of Philip Lee

The Windrush Deportation Crisis and the resignation of Amber Rudd April 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of appointment of Sajid Javid as new Home Secretary
Click here and here and here and here for BBC coverage of Amber Rudd's resignation
Click here and here for later developments regarding the resignation of Amber Rudd involving internal government report stating that she was misled by senior civil servants.
Click here and here and here, and here and here for Guardian coverage of Amber Rudd's resignation
Click here for Andrew Rawnsley article... so why has no-one resigned? [ But " A week in Politics....]
Guardian/Observer coverage of Windrush Deportation Crisis : here and here and here and here
BBC coverage of Windrush Deportation Crisis here and here and here and here

The Resignation of Justine Greening January 9th 2018

Click here for BBC coverage of Justine Greening resignation 9th January 2018

The Resignation of James Brokenshire

Click here for the resignation of James Brokenshire Mr Brokenshire resigned from his post as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on health ground in January 2018 but returned to Cabinet as Secretary y of State for Housing Communities and Local Government in April 2018

Damian Green Sacked from Cabinet December 20^th 2017

1. Click here and here and here and here for Guardian coverage

2. Click here and follow the additional links for BBC coverage

3. Click here for Daily Telegraph coverage

4. Click here for The Conversation coverage

5. Click here for Sky News coverage [See useful further links]

6. Click here for Summary of Cabinet Secretary’s Report

7. Click here for detailed information on The Ministerial Code

8. Click here for an article from 2012 on Sir Alex Allan who was consulted by P.M. Theresa May in relation to the Damian Green case.

December 18^th 2017.

1. Priti Patel Resignation [Guardian]

2. Priti Patel Resignation [BBC]

3. Theresa May and Westminster Scandals

4. Sir Michael Fallon Resignation

Click here for a page of links on the Premiership of Theresa May. This page is updated regularly It has links to several articles on Theresa May’s Cabinet

November 29th 2017. Article by Chris Malone on Collective Cabinet Responsibility [From LSE Brexit Blog]

March 19th 2016: click here and here for Guardian coverage, here for BBC coverage, here for Independent coverage and here for Observer coverage of resignation of Iain Duncan Smith . In the Guardian coverage there are further links to ITV coverage [by Robert Peston] and New Statesman coverage

March 2016: click here for Guardian article and here for podcast by Steve Richards on Cabinet and the EU Referendum.

February 2016: click here for Guardian article and here for BBC article stating that suspension of Collective Cabinet Responsibility during EU Referendum campaign is likely to be announced at Cabinet Meeting Friday February 19th . In the event the meeting took place on Saturday February 20th.

January 2016: Click here for BBC item and here and here for Channel 4 items and here and here and here and here for Guardian articles and here and here for Independent articles on David Cameron's announcement of suspension of Collective Cabinet Responsibility during the EU Referendum Campaign

June 2015: Click here for Guardian article on confusion around Collective Cabinet Responsibility and the EU Referendum

November 28th 2014 Click here for Ministerial Responsibility after Huhne: a very useful article by Dr. Mike Gordon

November 4th 2014. Click here {Independent] , here and here {Guardian] and here and here [BBC] for resignation of Lib Dem Home Office Minister Norman Baker on grounds that he believes Home Secretary Teresa May is neglecting Liberal Democrat approach to Home Office Policy

August 5th 2014 the resignation of Baroness Warsi on the grounds that she cannot support Coalition policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict

April 9th 2014 Click here [Guardian], here [Independent] and here [BBC] for coverage of resignation of Culture Secretary Maria Miller. Click here for a BBC Q and A on Maria Miller's resignation Click here

September 28th 2014: Click here for BBC coverage and here for Observer coverage of resignation of Brooks Newmark from his position as Minister for Civil Society The Observer story also contains information of Conservative MP Mark Reckless' defection to UKIP. Click here for Guardian coverage a previous controversy involving Brooks Newmark

A Series of links on the resignation of Andrew Mitchell and his loss, 2 years later, of the Libel Case in which he had again denied using the word "Pleb."

[New Links December 19th Click here for Channel 4 coverage of further developments in the Andrew Mitchell case. including a very interesting video of journalist Michael Crick's investigation into the affair and click here for the BBC coverage and click here for ongoing Guardian coverage to September 2013 and criticisms of the delays around the Metropolitan Police investigation. Click here for further BBC coverage in October 2013. Click here for a BBC Timeline of the Andrew Mitchell affair to February 2014. Click here for regularly updated Guardian coverage of Andrew Mitchell.

New Links January 21st 2013 Click here for BBC coverage and here for Guardian coverage of MPs' criticism of the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood in relation to his investigation of the Andrew Mitchell affair

New Links February 4th 2013 Click here for more information from Michael Crick on Channel 4 and here for more coverage from the Guardian

November 28th 2014 Click here for Guardian timeline of main events in the Andrew Mitchell Affair up to and including Andrew Mitchell's loss in libel case November 27th 2014, Click here for regularly updated Guardian coverage of Andrew Mitchell now updated to November 28th 2014. Click here for a BBC timeline and links to further items and here for Independent coverage of the libel case

December 2013 Click here for The Universal Credit Fiasco and the Need for a new Model of Ministerial Responsibility [From Democratic Audit

December 2013 Click here for Guardian coverage of Tory claims that Vince Cable is undermining the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility and here and here for further Guardian coverage of EU immigration and here for Independent coverage Danny Alexander’s criticisms of Conservative Euro-scepticism.

February 2014. Click here for Guardian coverage and here for BBC coverage of resignation of Immigration Minister Mark Harper. A story which perhaps is not without some irony

March 2014 Vince Cable and the Tories: Collective Cabinet Responsibility? [From Huffington Post]

March 2014 Click here for "In It Together: the Inside Story of the Coalition Government " very significant Podcast Lecture from the LSE given by Matthew d' Ancona

April 2014 Click here and here for resignation of ministerial aide Mark Menzies

April 9th 2014 Click here [Guardian], here [Independent] and here [BBC] for coverage of resignation of Culture Secretary Maria Miller. Click here for a BBC Q and A on Maria Miller's resignation

August 5th 2014; Click here and here for the resignation of Baroness Warsi from her position as Foreign Office Minister on the grounds that she can no longer support Coalition policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The Convention of Individual Ministerial Responsibility

Click here for The Ministerial Code and a little information on the Prime Minister's Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests Click here and here for a useful articles by Andrew Rawnsley and Patrick Wintour respectively on the Prime Minister's Independent Adviser on Minister' Interests. Click here for a Guardian article suggesting that David Cameron may have breached the Ministerial Code in relation to the Liam Fox/Adam Werrity links.

Under the terms of the Convention of Individual Ministerial Responsibility individual Ministers are deemed responsible to Parliament for the policies and administration of their department and for their own personal conduct. The Ministerial Code contains broad guide lines establishing appropriate ministerial behaviour which obviously provide ministers with useful advice regarding the performance of their ministerial duties but the Code is not a legal document and its precise implementation depends upon the interpretation s of the Prime Minister.

Individual Ministerial Responsibility means that Ministers introduce their departments' new legislation and explain and defend it in Parliamentary debates and that that they speak in other parliamentary debates , answer oral and written Parliamentary Questions and appear before select committees on matters affecting their department. All of this helps to some extent to improve the accountability of the Executive to Parliament and , indirectly, to the electorate although the limitations of all of the above mechanisms of parliamentary scrutiny are well known.

The convention of Individual Ministerial Responsibility implies also that a Minister should resign if there have been serious policy and/or administrative errors in his/her department or if s/he has been guilty of serious personal misconduct. Examples of resignation over policy errors and personal misconduct respectively include the resignation of the Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington and two junior Foreign Office Ministers[ Humphrey Atkin and Richard Luce] for their apparent failure to predict the likely Argentinean invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982 and the resignation of Conservative Minister Cecil Parkinson in the mid 1980s following revelations of the details of an extra-marital affair with his secretary Sara Keays .

More recently Peter Mandelson was obliged to resign twice from the Cabinet first for failure to reveal details of a personal loan and then for attempting to fast track an application for British citizenship from an influential business man... although he was later exonerated from any wrong doing in this latter case. Ministers may be obliged to resign if they are considered to have misled Parliament: David Willetts [Conservative] and Beverly Hughes [Labour] were both obliged to resign for this reason. Click here and here for BBC coverage of Beverly Hughes resignation.

Click here and here for the resignation of Stephen Byers [2002] and here and here for the resignation of Estelle Morris [2002]

Click here and here for David Blunkett's resignation as Home Secretary in 2004 and here and here for his resignation as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005

Resignations of Cabinet Ministers 2010--

Click here and here for Guardian/Observer coverage of the resignation of the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws }

{Click here for the BBC coverage of the resignation of Defence Secretary Liam Fox }

Chris Huhne resigned as Secretary of State foe Energy and Climate Change on February 3rd 2012 after learning that he will be charged with perverting the course of justice as a result of allegations that in 2003 Mr. Huhne had committed a speeding offence but agreed with his then wife Ms. Vicky Price that she would admit to having been the driver of the speeding car and would accept the resultant penalty points on his behalf. Mr Huhne claims that is is innocent of all charges and states that he has resigned "in order to avoid distraction to either my official duties or my trial defence." The following links provide additional information.

Click here [BBC] and here [Guardian] for the resignation of Chris Huhne

Click here for a BBC assessment of Chris Huhne’s career and here for a BBC assessment of the implications of Chris Huhne’s resignation for the future of Coalition environmental policies.

Click here for Guardian coverage of the controversy around allegations that Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell swore at a policeman on duty in Downing Street also allegedly calling him a "pleb" who " should know his place". He has subsequently denied using the word "pleb" and apologised for his bad behaviour and David Cameron has said that Mitchell will remain in his position but pressure for his resignation may be mounting [October 18th 2012] although David Cameron may continue to support Mitchell for fear of appearing "weak" if he now accedes to such pressures. November 28th 2014

Click here for Guardian timeline of main events in the Andrew Mitchell Affair up to and including Andrew Mitchell's loss in libel case November 27th 2014,

Click here for regularly updated Guardian coverage of Andrew Mitchell now updated to November 28th 2014.

Click here for a BBC timeline and links to further items and here for Independent coverage of the libel case

Andrew Mitchell's replacement as Chief Whip is Sir George Young

Click here for an Observer article by Andrew Rawnsley on Andrew Mitchell's resignation and comparisons with other non-resignations [Andrew Lansley, Jeremy Hunt, John Prescott?]

New Link December 19th Click here for Channel 4 coverage of further developments in the Andrew Mitchell case. including a very interesting video of journalist Michael Crick's investigation into the affair and click here for the BBC coverage and click here for Guardian coverage

February 2014. Click here for Guardian coverage and here for BBC coverage of resignation of Immigration Minister Mark Harper. A story which perhaps is not without some irony

April 2014 Click here and here for resignation of ministerial aide Mark Menzies

April 9th 2014 Click here [Guardian], here [Independent] and here [BBC] for coverage of resignation of Culture Secretary Maria Miller. Click here for a BBC Q and A on Maria Miller's resignation

In general terms there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the circumstances under which a Minister may be obliged to resign.

There may be circumstances where policies have been poorly implemented at local level so that the Minister cannot reasonably be blamed for such failure as when in the early 1980s an intruder gained entrance to the Queen's bedroom suite and despite calls for the resignation of the then Home Secretary William Whitelaw he could reasonably claim that he was not ministerially responsible for this specific error.
A Minister might claim that even though serious administrative mistakes have been made s/he should nevertheless remain as Minister and be allowed to rectify these mistakes. This was the claim made by Charles Clarke in 2006 in relation to administrative errors in the Home Office: he survived for a few weeks but when Mr Blair in a Cabinet reshuffle wished to move him from the Home Office to the Ministry of Defence Mr Clarke resigned rather than accept what he perceived to be a demotion.
A Minister might argue that his /her policies have been discussed and agreed in Cabinet so that if there are policy errors the entire Cabinet is collectively responsible all of which suggests that the conventions of Individual Ministerial Responsibility and Collective Cabinet Responsibility are in some respects incompatible.
The introduction of the so-called Next Steps Agencies which deliver public services but with relatively limited connections with Whitehall Departments blurs the responsibility for policy failure. For example in 1995 there were several significant prison escapes as a result of which the then Home Secretary Michael Howard faced calls for his resignation but instead shifted blame onto Derek Lewis , the Chief Executive of the Prison Service, claiming that the mistakes occurred to as a result of policy failure but as a result of failures of operational management for which Mr Lewis was responsible, a view which was widely questioned at the time.
Attitudes toward Ministers' personal relationships may well have changed in recent years: the former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and the former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott were not obliged to resign when details of their extra-marital affairs became public.
Ministers have been obliged to resign if they are considered to have behaved in any respects improperly. This applied to Coalition Ministers David Laws, Liam Fox , Chris Huhne, Andrew Mitchell and Maria Millar .
An important general point is that if an individual Minister has the support of the PM and the rest of the Cabinet s/he may be able to survive calls for resignation under the terms of the Individual Ministerial Responsibility Convention. A Prime Minister may appear weak if s/he seems to be giving in to political pressure to dismiss a minister but sometimes a PM may be forced to do this: Tony Blair would have liked to save David Blunkett from resignation but felt unable to do so.

The Convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility

June 2015: Click here for Guardian article on confusion around Collective Cabinet Responsibility and the EU Referendum

January 2016: Click here for BBC item and here and here for Channel 4 items and here and here and here and here for Guardian articles and here and here for Independent articleson David Cameron's announcement of suspension of Collective Cabinet Responsibility during the EU Referendum Campaign

The Convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility was originally designed to enable the cabinet to present an image of unity in Parliament and in public. This Convention has the following implications.

Once decisions are taken in Cabinet and in Cabinet Committees all Ministers must support these decisions in public ,even if they were not present when the decisions were taken, and, if they cannot do so, they should resign. The Convention applies not only to Cabinet Ministers, but to more junior non-Cabinet Ministers and to MPs [known as Parliamentary Private Secretaries] who are assistants to Ministers .
All details of Cabinet discussions should be kept secret unless it is agreed that it can be made public. This is designed to promote full discussion without revealing evidence of Cabinet disunity and to prevent sensitive information from being made public.
A government which is defeated on a Vote of Confidence must resign since such a vote signals no confidence in the government collectively not in an individual minister. Notice that the Cameron-Clegg government hopes to introduce a new provision whereby a 55% Commons majority will be necessary to defeat the government on a vote of confidence.

Important examples of resignations which occurred because Ministers could not accept Collective Cabinet Responsibility for policies with which they disagreed include the following.

1986: Michael Heseltine refused to accept government policy on the Westland helicopter affair.
1989: Nigel Lawson refused to accept Mrs. Thatcher's interventions in the management of economic policy.
1990: Sir Geoffrey Howe refused to accept the Thatcher Government's stance on European policy.
2003 : Robin Cook and John Denham both resigned because they disagreed with government policies on Iraq. Clare Short remained briefly in Cabinet despite publicly disagreeing with the Government policy on Iraq but she too soon resigned.

Nevertheless it must be noted that the Convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility has not always been applied rigidly.

It was suspended temporarily in 1975 when the Labour Government was disunited over continued membership of the then EEC [now the EU] and Labour Ministers were allowed to campaign for or against continued membership in the 1975 referendum campaign. The convention was relaxed also in the vote on the European Assembly Bill in 1977.
Free votes are often allowed on conscience issues such as capital punishment, abortion and gay rights.
Ministers and the PM often ignore the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility by leaking their own policy preferences to the mass media.
- Thus Mrs Thatcher sometimes encouraged her press spokesman Bernard Ingham to signal her disagreement with the more moderate members of the Cabinet and they certainly leaked their dissatisfaction with Mrs. Thatcher's more radical policies.
- Mrs Thatcher's own failure to abide by the Convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility is another reason why her Cabinet eventually deserted her.
- Such problems intensified even more in John Major's Government when Eurosceptic Cabinet Ministers Michael Portillo , Michael Howard and John Redwood regularly leaked against Major's European policies but remained in Cabinet. was caught by a live microphone as he described the three Ministers as " bastards"
Blair's Cabinets appeared more united in the early years but there have subsequently been leaks of the great disputes between Blair and Brown and also of disunity in the Brown Cabinet.
We can only speculate about what problems may be involved in maintaining Collective Cabinet Responsibility in the current Coalition Government .

It is easier to sustain the doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility in a united government but since all governments are to some extent plagued by disunity it is recognised that the convention of collective cabinet responsibility is to some extent a fiction : even if ministers claim that the government is united it is widely recognised that there are ongoing disputes at the heart of government.

Additions February 14th 2013- June 2015 Some Links on the Coalition and Collective Cabinet Responsibility.

It is important to note that the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government has had important implications for the Convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility. Thus in the Coalition Agreement for Stability and Reform [May 20th 2010] it was stated that "the Principle of Collective Responsibility , save where it is explicitly set aside continues to refer to all government ministers" You may click here for a Parliamentary Note on the Coalition and the Constitution and and scroll down to Page 12 to see a list of issues in relation to which the Convention of Collective Responsibility was expected to be relaxed "to a greater or lesser extent"

It is argued that the activities of the so-called Quad Of D. Cameron, N, Clegg, G. Osborne and D. Alexander [apparently augmented recently by the addition of D. Laws and O. Letwin ] are designed to attempt to resolve tricky issues which could involve conflict between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. If their discussions are successful this could be a factor making for a more cohesive Government in which Ministers of both parties may feel able to support Government policy thus strengthening the operation of the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility. Alternatively inter-party policy differences may increasingly prove too difficult to resolve. weakening the operation of the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility. Click here, here and here for some further information on the Quad.

You may click here for a video of an extended Parliamentary Debate on Collective Cabinet Responsibility posted on the BBC Democracy Channel .[I hope it is retained on the BBC site for a long time.] Click here for a verbatim transcript of this debate from the theyworkforyou site ,...again I hope the item will be retained for a long time

You may click here and here for Guardian items suggesting that David Cameron intended initially that Ministers votes on gay marriage legislation would be bound by Collective Cabinet Responsibility but was obliged to change his mind in recognition of the extent of opposition to gay marriage among Conservative ministers and Conservative MPs more generally.

You may click here for a Guardian Report of the comments of the then Conservative Party Chairwoman Baroness Warsi on the failure of some Liberal Democrat Ministers to abide by the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility.

You may click here for the Daily Telegraph coverage of the decision to set aside Collective Cabinet Responsibility over the recent issue of Boundary Reform on which the Conservatives were defeated as Liberal Democrats Ministers voted with Labour against the Conservatives.

Click here for a New Statesman article entitled "Will Cameron suspend collective responsibility over the EU"?

You might like to discuss whether the convention of Collective Cabinet Responsibility is likely increasingly to be weakened as the next General Election approaches. Related to this you might find useful this article by Professor Vernon Bogdanor for the Guardian.

August 5th 2014; Click here and here and here and here and here for the resignation of Baroness Warsi from her position as Foreign Office Minister on the grounds that she can no longer support Coalition policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

June 2015: Click here for Guardian article on confusion around Collective Cabinet Responsibility and the EU Referendum

More Detailed Papers

Click here for The Coalitionising of Collective Responsibility [Dr. Felicity Matthews : published by PSA 2014]
Click here for The Collective Responsibility of Ministers [House of Commons Research Paper 2004]

Earlham Sociology and Politics Pages

Resources for GCE Advanced Level, Scottish Higher and Access to Higher Education Courses. I hope also that some of the more detailed documents may be useful for beginning undergraduates.

The Conventions of Individual Ministerial Responsibility and Collective Cabinet Responsibility