The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is a body consisting of the most senior ministers in the government of the United Kingdom, headed by the Prime Minister. Formally a committee of the Privy Council, it is the main executive body of the British Government. Traditionally, the Cabinet meets weekly on a Thursday morning. All members of the Cabinet are drawn from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.
In recent years, some ex-ministers (notably Clare Short) have alleged that under the government of current prime minister Tony Blair, Cabinet meetings have lost their decision-making role; according to a former senior civil servant, Lord Butler, the Blair cabinet "took one decision in eight months", with other decisions being made by the Prime Minister and his close advisers.[1]
This was the composition of the Cabinet following the selection of Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister of Great Britan on December 7, 2007:[2]
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The Shadow Cabinet is the group of senior politicians in the official opposition party (currently the Labour Party) who mirror the roles of Cabinet members. If the opposition party secures a majority in the House of Commons and is invited to form a government, the members of the Shadow Cabinet typically form the new Cabinet.
Categories: [British Politics]