Electing UK Prime Minister, Ministers & Deputies.Part One

In the two blogs preceding this one I advanced suggestions regarding different ways in which MPs could be forced to resign as an MP, and ways in which Ministers or their Deputies could be forced to relinquish their office. I also stated that action aimed at achieving these events should not, obviously, be undertaken lightly, I indicated where methods that I had suggested could be referred to. I also suggested penalties that could be applied if such action did not succeed. Summing up that facet, I freely agree that better ways of compelling the resignation of MPs, or Ministers and/or their Deputies to relinquish their office may well be found. Essentially it must not be too easy or too difficult to instigate such action, what will be difficult will be to find the right balance between those parameters. I feel that the availability of such action is a vital step towards a more democratic and open form of government.

A matter which is closely linked to the above is a question that I have puzzled over, the question is, " Why are leaders of democratically elected governments often lionised or hated, as an individual, with great passion"?, after all they should only support actions that they think the majority of the population want. The wishes of that majority should have been conveyed to them by the persons that had been elected, by the population, to fill that role, in the UK of course this is by MPs.

In recent times the matter has been raised as to whether our Prime Minister should act as a President or as a Chairman. Again, quite recently, many people believe that the government failed to seek the opinion of MPs and that, indeed, the PM did not seek the opinion of his Cabinet. In harsh judgement such behaviour of a PM is approaching that of a dictator.

Turning attention to our elections, are the voters, in effect, voting in a Prime Minister or just some one who happens to be the leader of a party that they support? Many people have been critical of Mr Brown on the grounds that he was not "elected". My knowledge of how different
PMs came to fill that role without being elected is not extensive, there are others of course, notably, I think, Mr Churchill during the darkest period in WW Two. There is little doubt in my mind that he was, at that time, lionised.

I will put forward my suggestions regarding the Election of the PM and other Ministers in my next blog.
Frederick W Gilling. Tuesday 16 February 2010