Just on October 20, just passed, British Prime Minister Tras announced his resignation, thus setting a shameful record - The Prime Minister who reigned the shortest time, only 45 days . In the past decade, four cabinets have been replaced like a revolving lantern, and the head of the British government has also become a "short-lived" profession. Since 1688, the glorious revolution of , Britain has gradually formed a parliamentary monarchy . The king is only the nominal supreme head, and the real power is in the hands of the parliament. was born from the cabinet meeting chaired by the king, and the Prime Minister became the head of the British government.
Cabinet origin: Glorious revolution, transfer of power
In the mid-17th century, when the ancient China was still undergoing the old-style change of Qing army entering the pass, the British islands along the Atlantic coast were underway. However, the British islands along the Atlantic Ocean were undertaking a vigorous bourgeois revolution. In 1640, the parliament fought with the king against the issue of "restricting the royal power", which kicked off the revolution. The torrent of the era rolled in. In 1649, King Charles I was pushed to the guillotine. In 1653, the revolutionary Cromwell became the dictatorial protector. In 1660, the Stuart dynasty was restored again.
When King James II crazily suppressed the revolutionary party and attempted to counterattack, another coup was launched in the UK. deposed James II and welcomed his daughter Mary and son-in-law William. This bloodless coup is known in history as the "glorious revolution". How to limit the royal power to a cage and fully protect the rights of the parliament and the people has become the most concerned issue for people at that time. The following year, the parliament passed the " Bill of Rights ", with the fundamental purpose of limiting the king's rights .
This programmatic document of bourgeois first reiterates the rights that the British have had since ancient times, "freedom of speech", "regular parliament, and parliament will have legislative, judicial and tax rights" and other . More importantly, a series of restrictions were imposed on the royal power. Since then, the supreme power of Britain has shifted from the king to the parliament, and constitutional monarchy has gradually formed. The king became the nominal supreme head, and the parliament that holds real power gave birth to the head of government of the country.
Cabinet appeared: restricting the royal power, the supreme leader
In fact, before the birth of the modern responsibility cabinet system, there was a historical tradition of the king convening the cabinet . , however, the cabinet at that time was more like a secret meeting of the king choosing his successor. The modern cabinet of Britain was transformed from Privy Council , composed of aristocrats. Since the glorious revolution in 1688, the King of England has gradually "ruled but not ruled" . Although the king still presided over the cabinet in name, the real power has been in the hands of the parliament.
The real change is the ascension of George I . In 1714, when German Hanover royal family George I became the new king of Britain because of his close blood and his belief in Protestantism. However, he was a German and was unable to use English fluently, which made George I reluctant to attend the cabinet meeting. In 1721, he appointed the then Minister of the Finance Minister and leader of the House of Commonwealth Party, Robert Walpole as the head of the cabinet. Starting from George I, the King no longer had cabinet meetings become the new normal in British politics.
Woopol was appointed as the head of the cabinet, the beginning of becoming the British Prime Minister. , however, it was not called the Prime Minister at that time, but " Chief Minister of Finance". The status and name of the Prime Minister were not established until more than half a century later in 1783. The term " Prime Minister " appears in official documents, and by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, when Britain had long become a world industrial power. 1903, the Prime Minister became the official title of the king's official edict, and it was not until 1937 that it was officially confirmed by the law.
Cabinet development: party struggles, parliament respects
From the established facts of the convention to the promulgation and determination of legal documents, the cabinet prime minister has gone through two long centuries. The early prime ministers were mostly held by noble MPs. Later, it was gradually determined that the majority leader of the House of Commonwealth Party was appointed by the king. The current majority leader of the Court took over the imperial edict from the King of England and began to authorize the formation of the cabinet . The members of the cabinet are selected from the members of their party, and the number is determined by the Prime Minister. The cabinet ministers cover important positions such as diplomacy, national defense, finance, and internal affairs.
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of major policies, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet will first hold a smaller meeting of trustworthy confidants, which is Small cabinet or Cabinet . The reason for doing this is that in the modern political struggle in Britain, there have been a battle of rights between Whigs and the Tories, Liberals and Conservatives and and later Herberals and Lab . After fight against , with the decline of the Liberal Party and the rise of the Labor Party, the UK formed two major duels between Labour Party and the Conservative Party .
Conservatives and Labor Party sometimes form cabinets alone, but sometimes they have to put aside their prejudices and form cabinets together. But no matter how hard the struggle is, the cabinet must be responsible to the parliament and must also be subject to the supervision of the parliament. The Prime Minister of the Cabinet has extensive political rights, including the highest executive power, the right to make legislative motions, the command power of the three armies, etc. Moreover, when the cabinet prime minister does not receive support from the parliament, either the cabinet members resign collectively or have the right to suggest that the king dissolve the parliament and re-election to gain support to form a cabinet again.
postscript
is different from the US presidential system, which is separated by three powers and balanced by the separation of powers. The British parliamentary cabinet system is one of the administration and legislation. While it is efficient, it also has the flaws of poor parliamentary supervision. Cabinet members are responsible for the country's major policies and policies, and the prime minister, as the highest member of the cabinet, is the first to be hit by . Therefore, when Tras' economic policy was criticized, what awaited her was resigning and apologizing. Now, the British Prime Minister is vacant again. What should we do next term do? Let’s wait and see!
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