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Ministerial Responsibility
In Westminster system, Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention that a Cabinet (government), cabinet minister (government), minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry (government department), ministry or department. Individual ministerial responsibility is not the same as cabinet collective responsibility, which states members of the cabinet must approve publicly of its collective decisions or resign. This means that a Parliamentary motion for a vote of no confidence is not in order should the actions of an organ of government fail in the proper discharge of its responsibilities. Where there is ministerial responsibility, the accountable minister is expected to take the blame and ultimately resign, but the majority or coalition within parliament of which the minister is part, is not held to be answerable for that minister's failure. This means ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster System
The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature which is responsible government, responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. The term derives from the Palace of Westminster, which has been the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Westminster Parliament in England and later the United Kingdom since the 13th century. The Westminster system is often contrasted with the presidential system that originated in the United States, or with the semi-presidential system, based on the government of France. The Westminster system is used, or was once used, in the national and Administrative division, su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave Creek Disaster
The Cave Creek disaster occurred on 28 April 1995 when a scenic viewing platform in Paparoa National Park, New Zealand, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. The victims, 13 of whom were Tai Poutini Polytechnic students, fell onto rocks below. The tragedy resulted in wide criticism of the government and its policies towards funding and management of the conservation estate. Denis Marshall, New Zealand's Minister of Conservation, eventually resigned, after the Commission of Inquiry's report came out. It also resulted in major changes to procedures used by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, after it was revealed that serious systemic failures had led to the building of the unstable platform. Eventual changes in New Zealand law, following a change of government, allowed for government departments to be held criminally liable for inadequate building practices, in the same way as the non-government organisations. Background Cave Creek / Kotihotiho is a small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabinet Collective Responsibility
Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems and a cornerstone of the Westminster system of government, that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. This support includes voting for the government in the legislature. This convention formed in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Some political parties, most commonly communist, apply a similar convention of democratic centralism to their central committee. If a member of the Cabinet wishes to openly object to a Cabinet decision then they are obliged to resign from their position in the Cabinet. Cabinet collective responsibility is related to the fact that if a vote of no confidence is passed in parliament, the government is responsible collectively, and thus the entire government resigns. The consequence will be that a new government ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms-to-Iraq
The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by United Kingdom, British companies to Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein. The scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government of John Major and the atmosphere of List of political scandals in the United Kingdom, sleaze that contributed to the electoral landslide for Tony Blair's Labour Party (UK), Labour Party at the 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 general election. The whole affair also highlighted the weakness of the Constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention of individual ministerial accountability, leading to its codification as the Ministerial Code by the First Blair ministry, Blair Government. Following the first Gulf War of 1991 there was interest in the extent to which British companies had been supplying Saddam Hussein's administration with the materials to p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Inquiry
The Scott Report (the ''Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions'') was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports surfaced of previously restricted arms sales to Iraq in the 1980s by British companies. The report was conducted by Sir Richard Scott, then a Lord Justice of Appeal. It was published in 1996. Much of the report was classified as secret. Background In the late 1980s, Matrix Churchill, a British ( Coventry) aerospace quality machine tools manufacturer that had been bought by the Iraqi government, was exporting machines used in weapons manufacture to Iraq. According to the International Atomic Energy Authority, the products later found in Iraq were among the highest quality of their kind in the world. They were 'dual use' machines that could be used to manufacture weapons parts. Such exports are subject to government control, and Matrix Churchill had the appropriate government permissi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson served as Labour's director of communications from 1985 to 1990, becoming one of the first people to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied and being dubbed the " Prince of Darkness" because of his "ruthless" and "media savvy" reputation. Mandelson served as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and again from 2008 to 2010, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1999 to 2001 as well as First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council from 2009 to 2010. He was the European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, before being elevated to the House of Lords as a Life Peer in 2008. In November 2010, he co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Davies (British Politician)
Ronald Davies (born 6 August 1946) is a retired Welsh politician, former Secretary of State for Wales, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. He describes himself as a politician belonging to the "traditional left" who had "spent his life looking for a socialist progressive party". He was a member of the Labour Party (until 2004), and then of Forward Wales (2004–2009); he was subsequently an independent candidate and eventually joined Plaid Cymru in 2010. Davies is credited with being the "architect of devolution" in Wales and led the campaign to create the National Assembly for Wales. He became the first Cabinet Minister to resign from Tony Blair's Cabinet in 1998, following what became known as a "moment of madness" when he was mugged at knifepoint after agreeing to go for a meal with a man he had met at the well-known gay meeting place of Clapham Common. Early and personal life Born in Machen in the Rhymney Valley in Monmouthshire, he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. As education is fully devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, the post holder has no jurisdiction or influence in education policy or direction in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Therefore, the Cabinet Secretary for Education legislates on education matters only in England. The office holder works alongside the other Department for Education#Ministers, Education ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, shadow secretary of state for education, and the work of the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Education Select Committee. The current education secretary is Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estelle Morris
Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, (born 17 June 1952), is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley from 1992 to 2005. As Education Secretary, she is known for removing compulsory modern languages from secondary schools in England in 2002. Early life Morris was born in Manchester into a political family. Her uncle, Alf Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe (1964–1997) and her father, Charles, was Labour MP for Manchester Openshaw (1963–1983) and a Post Office union official who married Pauline Dunn. She attended Rack House primary school in Wythenshawe and Whalley Range Grammar School in Whalley Range where she failed her English and French A-levels. She is a graduate of the Coventry College of Education, where she gained a BEd degree in 1974. Morris remembered the long-serving principal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Prior
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, (11 October 1927 – 12 December 2016) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. A Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft (UK Parliament constituency), Lowestoft until 1983 and then the renamed constituency of Waveney (UK Parliament constituency), Waveney from 1983 to 1987, when he stood down from the House of Commons and was made a life peer. He served in two Conservative cabinets, and outside parliament was Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004, and Chancellor (education), Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University from 1992 to 1999. Under Edward Heath, Prior was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, then Leader of the House of Commons until Heath lost office in the wake of the February 1974 United Kingdom general election, February 1974 election. His party returned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For Northern Ireland
The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The officeholder is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The incumbent secretary of state for Northern Ireland is Hilary Benn. The officeholder works alongside the other Northern Ireland Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland. History Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequently Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government and its predecessors were: * the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ( 1171–1922); * the Chief Secretary for Ireland (1560–1922); and * the Home Secretary (1922–1972). In August 1969, for example, Home Secretary James Callaghan approved the sending of British Army soldiers to Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales were represente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMP Maze
HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 October 1974 Irish Republican internees burned 21 of the compounds used to house the internees thereby destroying much of Long Kesh. The prison was situated at the former Royal Air Force station of Long Kesh, on the outskirts of Lisburn. This was in the townland of Maze, about southwest of Belfast. The prison and its inmates were involved in such events as the 1981 hunger strike. The prison was closed in 2000 and demolition began on 30 October 2006, but on 18 April 2013 it was announced by the Northern Ireland Executive that the remaining buildings would be redeveloped into a peace centre, however these plans were later abandoned. Background Following the introduction of internment in 1971, Operation Demetrius was implemented by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
