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Elections: Reform

Cabinet Office written question – answered am ar 17 Rhagfyr 2018.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Tommy Sheppard Tommy Sheppard Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office), Shadow SNP Spokesperson (House of Lords), Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Scotland)

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has in place for his work stream on electoral reform in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

Photo of Chloe Smith Chloe Smith The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip

The Government will continue to keep the electoral system under review and where appropriate will consider what changes, if any, may be necessary in preparation for and as a consequence of the UK leaving the European Union.

As the UK will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29th March 2019, we will not be taking part in future European Parliamentary elections, including those which are currently scheduled to be held from 23rd to 26th May 2019.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 repeals the underlying pieces of legislation providing for the holding of European Parliamentary elections in the UK, and we have made a Statutory Instrument under powers in the Act that repeals all associated legislation.

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Cabinet

The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.

It is chaired by the prime minister.

The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.

Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.

However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.

War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.

From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.

The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.