Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The patronage of the Prime Minister

A major fault in our democracy relates to the way we are governed.   Under our constitution our Prime Minister uses the powers of the Royal Prerogative to exercise power.   The House of Commons could and should hold the Prime Minister accountable but continuously fails to do so, perhaps because the Prime Minister exercises great power of patronage.   The Prime Minister appoints the Government Whips.   For MPs, promotion, position, overseas trips, appointments to outside bodies, all, effectively rest in the hand of the Prime Minister.


The powers of the Prime Minister should be set out in writing and where appropriate placed on a statutory footing.

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