The British Prime Minister Has Become Presidential in All but Name

‘The British Prime Minister has become presidential in all but name.’ Discuss. (25 Marks)

The British Prime Minister is different to an American President in many ways however in recent years there has been a suggestion that, despite the fact that the UK Prime Minister is in theory “First among equals” in the cabinet, he has begun to act in a fashion more akin to the role carried out by an elected Head of State – a president.

The president is known as the head of state, whereas the formal head of state in Britain is the Queen, or the monarchy. So in title they are immediately different as traditionally the Prime Minister is of a lower authority to the ‘Head of State’ – the Queen, but now the Queen acts primarily as a figurehead, because of this we see the Prime Minister performing the roles of a head of state; giving him what some may say is the role of president. An example of which is that like the president of the US the prime minister has his own government staff, think tanks, personal advisors, policy units. The prime minister is also the commander and chief of the armed forces; a role that has been given to him by the monarch.

Finally, the spatial leadership that has come to characterize the relationship between the PM and the cabinet is beginning to resemble that of a president. This is the tendency of the PM to distance themselves from their party, establishing their own ideological stance. An example of a previous PM that performed this act was Lady Thatcher with Thatcherism. Thatcherism and Obama Health Care System (the health created by current US president Obama) are ideological stances. Both were created by them on their own, and passed laws without the consent of their party/cabinet. Overall, the issues addressed prior recapitulate the theory of the PM gradually becoming more like a president from his actions which to some extent portrays his role as being President rather than Prime Minister.

However, it can be argued that Prime Minister is nothing like president because they do not formally hold the powers of Head of State. In Britain, the Head of State is the Queen; she has the role of leader of the nation meaning she is the figure head of Britain. In times of difficulty or crisis, she is the public face which Britain look to. The queen is irrespective of party allegiance. The US president has the right to these powers and is extremely important in US politics because of this. Since the UK prime minster doesn’t have this codified power they effectively do not play the same role as president with UK politics