The Role of Cabinet GapFill

The cabinet is the highest level of committee in the executive, consisting of the head of each government department and a few other senior members of government. It meets weekly and is chaired by the   prime ministermonarchSpeakerChancellor. Cabinet meetings are designed for government decisions to be discussed and agreed upon. Cabinet operates on the principle of  individual responsibilitycollective responsibilitynational dutymutual recognition for all decisions made. This means that if a member of cabinet feels they cannot support a decision that the government has made, then they are expected to resign their position.

In recent years, there have been questions raised about whether the cabinet plays as significant a role in government as it has in the past.   Tony BlairMargaret ThatcherGordon BrownTheresa May was the first modern prime minister to significantly bypass the cabinet when making government decisions, though this lack of consultation eventually led to the PM's fall from office. Prime Minister   John MajorDavid CameronTony BlairMargaret Thatcher is regarded as having significantly bypassed cabinet throughout their premiership, instead making governmental decisions after consultation with special advisers in informal meetings - a style of governing that has been pejoratively nicknamed   strongsofaweakmajority government. Cabinet is thought to have played an increased role over the last decade, however, furthering the view that it is of more importance during periods of   minoritystrongweaksofa government, when the government relies on other parties to win parliamentary votes, or  weakcoalitionstrongminority government, when two or more parties govern together. 

Cabinet members are chosen by the prime minister, and are selected based on a number of factors. Commonly, the first is  experience and expertisepolitical opinionloyaltyparty allegiance, ensuring that there are a number of factions within the party receiving equal representation at cabinet level. This is something that Theresa May meticulously maintained between MPs on either side of the Brexit debate during her premiership. Notably, Boris Johnson has not done the same in the formation of his cabinet, instead almost exclusively selecting MPs on the 'Leave' side of the Brexit debate. A second factor is  loyaltyexperience and expertiseparty allegiancepolitical opinion, with the prime minister more likely to select MPs that they feel they can trust and without a record of rebellion in parliamentary votes. A third is  experience and expertiseloyaltyparty allegianceprominence: the prime minister will often seek to ensure that popular MPs with a large amount of support are inside the government, rather than external to decisions being made and capable of becoming an alternative centre of power within the party. A fourth factor, which has become highly important in recent years, is   demographicsparty allegianceexperience and expertiseloyalty: ensuring the make-up of the cabinet reflects the wider make-up of the country. Finally,   loyaltypolitical opinionparty allegianceexperience and expertise is also a consideration, though arguably often not as much of a priority as it perhaps should be. In addition, in the unusual situation of a coalition government   political opinionexperience and expertiseparty allegianceloyalty requires balancing in cabinet, often proportionally to the size of each party's parliamentary representation.