- Prime Minister Gordon Brown with his Cabinet - gavilan.edu
The British Cabinet is the main decision-making body of the executive and is the executive committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council. It is made of Cabinet Ministers, who are the most senior government ministers.
History of the Cabinet
In 1625, King Charles I made a formal "Cabinet Council" after his accession to the throne.
Since the reign of King George I, the principle executive group within government has been the Cabinet. Both King George I and George II relied heavily on this select group of advisors as both did not speak English as their first language and were unfamiliar with British politics.
During his time in office between 1916 and 1992, David Lloyd-George created the modern Cabinet system. He made a Cabinet office and Secretariat as well as committee structures and a much more defined relationship with Cabinet Ministers.
To this day, the main, formal inner workings of the Cabinet are largely unknown.
The Composition of the Cabinet
Cabinet Ministers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister who is the head of Government. Cabinet Ministers are generally heads of governmental departments.
The majority of Cabinet Ministers are known as the Secretary of State for the relevant department. For instance, Bob Ainsworth is the Secretary of State for Defence.
At the time of writing there were 22 Cabinet Ministers, with this number fluctuating between 21 and 24. The Cabinet is mainly made up of members of the House of Commons, although members of the House of Lords can be Cabinet Ministers. Lord Peter Mandleson, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is the First Cabinet Minister.
Very occasionally, Cabinet Ministers are selected from outside of the Houses of Parliament. All members of the Cabinet are also Privy Councillors, as the Cabinet is a committee of HM's Most Honourable Privy Council.
More Information Regarding the Cabinet
The Cabinet meets regularly, usually each week on a Tuesday (this had been the case since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007). The meetings can be as short as 30 minutes in length as most discussions and announcements are made at other times.
The Cabinet has a number of sub-committees which deal with particular areas. These can be either permanent or temporary depending on the subject.
The Conservative Party, which is currently the Offical Opposition (the party with the second largest number of Members of Parliament) has a similar group of decision makers known as the Shadow Cabinet.
Sources:
10 Downing Street Website
