Constitutional and Administrative Law (UK) Essay

Constitutional and Administrative Law (UK) - Essay Example The Cabinet is selected by the Prime Minister and is made up f between 20-24 government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy. The most senior members f the Cabinet are the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor f the Exchequer and Home Secretary. Also, Members of parliament who are 'Parliamentary Private Secretaries' - unpaid assistants to ministers - there are about 110 members f the Government in all. With this in mind, the Cabinet represents about one-fifth f the whole Government. All Cabinet ministers must be members f parliament, either the Commons or the Lords. Most come from the Commons, but there must be some members from the Lords who can represent Cabinet there. Since the Lord Chancellor and Leader f the House f Lords are automatic members, there can be no fewer than two representatives from the Lords. The framework f the cabinet can be described as, " to take or review the major decisions (f Government), to consider (though not necessarily at the formative stage) any proposals which might affect the future of the Government, and to ensure that no departmental interests are overlooked, thus giving the work f the government a measure f unity" (Mackintosh, J.1977). The United Kingdom can be seen as a Cabinet government in that the Cabinet m