"decision-making. Former ministers such as Clare Short and Chris Smith have criticised the lack of decision-making power in Cabinet. When she resigned, Short denounced ""the centralisation of power into the hands of the Prime Minister and an increasingly small number of advisers"". Graham Allen (a Government Whip during Tony Blair's first government) made the case in ""The Last Prime Minister: Being Honest About the UK Presidency"" (2003) that in fact the office of prime minister has presidential powers. However, the presidentialisation thesis has been extensively criticised as well. Keith Dowding, for example, argues that British Prime Ministers are already more"
"the May 1997 election with a 179-seat majority. The Prime Minister Tony Blair, who turned 44 years old days after leading Labour to victory, was the youngest Prime Minister of the twentieth century. Blair quickly wiped away memories of the troubled Labour governments led by Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 70's as the economic recovery continued and unemployment continued to fall. While other developed countries, notably Japan, were hit by a financial crisis during Blair's first term in office, the British economy remained strong. In September 2000, however, protests against fuel prices intensified across the country"
"Campaigns were launched via a secretariat in the United Kingdom, franchising the ""trade mark"" to any who directed campaign in the spirit of Jubilee 2000. The Church of England supported the movement; then-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey addressed a rally in Trafalgar Square with Dent and Peters, and also made Jubilee 2000 the subject of his New Year’s Day address on BBC 1. Several of the UK ministers in charge of the relevant government departments after Labour came to power in 1997 were Scots. These included Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling in the Treasury, and Robin Cook as Foreign Secretary,"
"Prime Minister of the 20th century, as Britain's economic recovery continued. With the battle against inflation and strikes long won, an economic boom was in its early stages. Unemployment had fallen below 3,000,000 during the spring of 1987, and the tax cuts by chancellor Nigel Lawson sent the economy into overdrive. By early 1988, unemployment was below 2,500,000. A year later, it fell below 2,000,000. By the end of 1989, it was down to 1,600,000. A residential property price surge saw the average home price in Britain double between 1986 and 1989. However, this led to the government doubling interest"
"families with children, and ""Sure Start"" progammes for under-fours in deprived areas. A ""National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal"" was launched in 2001 with the objective of ensuring that ""within 10 to 20 years no-one should be seriously disadvantaged by where they live""; a ""Social Exclusion Unit"" was set up, and annual progress reports concerning the reduction of poverty and social exclusion were commissioned. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown replaced Blair as Prime Minister in 2007. Labour's popularity declined further with the onset of a worldwide recession in 2008, where the Conservatives led by David Cameron overtook Labour in the"
"human dignity and the environment, and for the major role he has played in helping to stabilise the world's financial system"". Speeches Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Blair Government from 1997 to 2007. Brown was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2015, first for Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. A doctoral graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Brown spent his"
"Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Blair Government from 1997 to 2007. Brown was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2015, first for Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. A doctoral graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Brown spent his early career working as both a lecturer at a further education college and a television journalist. He entered Parliament in 1983 as"
"the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, David Cameron. This clear party preference led to controversy after Shaun Woodward succeeded the retiring Hurd as Conservative candidate: Woodward was elected in the 1997 General Election, but switched allegiance to the Labour Party in 1999. In the 2001 General Election Woodward stood as the Labour candidate for the more left-friendly seat of St Helens South and David Cameron retook Witney for the Conservatives. He became Prime Minister in coalition with the Liberal Democrats in May 2010 and continued after the 2015 elections in which his Conservative Party gained an absolute majority, but retired"
"resigned a little more than a year later, amid threats of an imminent no-confidence vote and alleged plotting against him by members of not only his own party, but also Assembly groups and Cabinet members. Morgan, who had served as Minister for Economic Development under Michael, became Labour's new nominee for First Secretary, and was elected in February 2000, later becoming First Minister on 16 October 2000 when the position was retitled. He was also appointed to the Privy Council in July 2000. Morgan stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2001 General Election. Morgan's leadership was characterised"
"government with Vajpayee as Prime Minister in October 1999. The end of the millennium was devastating to India, as a cyclone hit Orissa, killing at least 10,000. In 2000 May, India's population exceeded 1 billion. President of the United States Bill Clinton made a groundbreaking visit to India to improve ties between the two nations. In January, massive earthquakes hit Gujarat state, killing at least 30,000. Prime Minister Vajpayee met with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in the first summit between Pakistan and India in more than two years in the middle of 2001. But the meeting failed without a breakthrough"
"key role in the Northern Ireland peace process. But his decision to commit British troops to the 2003 invasion of Iraq turned public opinion against him and lost him the support of some of his own MPs. When Blair stepped down as Prime Minister in June 2007 he was succeeded by his Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Blair's decade-long premiership had been a time of economic boom for the United Kingdom, but Brown's tenure as Prime Minister was dominated by the global recession of the latter part of the 2000s. Although commentators perceived Brown to have made some good decisions during the"
"a working majority government on their own. For this reason, the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition government together. The Conservative leader David Cameron became Prime Minister whilst Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister. The government planned to put into action sharp spending cuts, stating that they were necessary to address the United Kingdom's record peacetime deficit, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, saying that Britain risks suffering a debt crisis like those seen in Greece, Ireland and Portugal if it fails to reduce the budget deficit. The cuts that they planned"
"powers of the First Minister in their absence or incapacitation. From 11 October 2000 to 26 October 2000, following the death in office of the then First Minister Donald Dewar, his deputy Jim Wallace became Acting First Minister, until the Labour party appointed a new leader, and consequently First Minister. Wallace also became Acting First Minister between 8 November 2001 and 22 November 2001, following the resignation of Henry McLeish. An officer with such a title need not always exist; rather, the existence of the post is dependent on the form of Cabinet organisation preferred by the First Minister and"
"Chancellor of the Exchequer. Later it was confirmed that William Hague had assumed the post of Foreign Secretary and the new Home Secretary would be Theresa May. Cameron's cabinet included Clegg and four other Liberal Democrats: Danny Alexander, Vince Cable, Chris Huhne, and David Laws. The economy was a priority in the continuing wake of late-2000s financial crisis and the consequent increasing government debt when Cameron came into office, with the topic being of much concern in British public opinion. The government announced a policy, later called 'Plan A', of eliminating the structural deficit and ensuring that the debt-to-GDP ratio"
"2012 British cabinet reshuffle British prime minister David Cameron conducted the first major reshuffle of his coalition government on 4 September 2012. The reshuffle, nearly two and a half years after the government was sworn in, was highly anticipated, and eschewed the trend of annual reshuffles which had become common under the governments of the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, many ministers had been in place not just since the government was elected in 2010, but had covered the portfolio in Cameron's shadow cabinet or even earlier; Andrew Lansley had covered the health brief since 2004, when Michael Howard"
"judged to be Anthony Eden. Historian Francis Beckett ranked the 20th-century prime ministers with points out of five in 2006, based on how well the leaders implemented their policies—not on the policies themselves. Margaret Thatcher and Clement Attlee shared the highest ranking. In September 2008 the BBC ""Newsnight"" programme conducted an online poll. Asking voters to decide who they thought was the greatest and worst of post-war prime ministers. 27,000 people responded, and decided that Winston Churchill was the greatest, with Attlee second. The full results were: In a BBC poll to find the 100 Greatest Britons in 2002, five"
"the campaign led to Milburn taking a back seat, with Gordon Brown returning to take a very prominent role. On election night in 2005, he announced he would be leaving the Cabinet for a second time, although rumours persisted that he would challenge Gordon Brown for the succession. On 27 June 2007, Brown subsequently assumed the prime ministerial role unopposed. On 8 September 2006, after Tony Blair had announced his intention to step down within a year, Charles Clarke suggested Milburn as leader in place of Brown. On 28 February 2007, he and Clarke launched The 2020 Vision, a website"
"the illness and then later, the death of the first First Minister Donald Dewar and the following resignation of his successor Henry McLeish. This partnership was renewed in 2003 and Wallace became Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. On 23 June 2005, Nicol Stephen MSP succeeded Wallace as party leader and took over his positions in the Executive until the 2007 elections. Prior to the partnership government being formed in 1999, the UK had only limited experience of coalition government. The party's participation attracted criticism for involving compromises to its preferred policies, although several of its"
"government minister Chris Mullin. Woodward's defection was welcomed by senior Labour figures. In the June 2001 general election, Woodward decided not to contest his Witney seat as a Labour candidate and instead found a safe Labour seat in St Helens South. Chris Mullin wrote with shock of ""the awful Shaun Woodward"" defecting to Mullin's own side, calling ""the New Labour elite parachuting [Woodward] into a safe seat ... one of New Labour's vilest stitch-ups ... made my flesh creep"". His successor in Witney was David Cameron, who subsequently became Prime Minister in 2010. When news of Woodward's intention to stand"
"That government fell in March 2000 over the issue of proposed natural gas plants, opposed by Bondevik due to their impact on climate change. The Labour Party's Jens Stoltenberg, a Brundtland protégé, took over in a minority Labour government but lost power in the September 2001 election when Labour posted its worst performance since World War I. Bondevik once again became Prime Minister in 2001, this time as head of a minority coalition of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals, a coalition dependent on support from the Progress Party. This coalition government was the first to stay in office for"
"had issued stating that the cabinet would resign should the party receive less than 36.9% of the popular vote. Labour only received 35.0%; true to his promise, Jagland resigned as a consequence of its 36.9 ultimatum, and power was transferred to the first cabinet of Kjell Magne Bondevik. After Jagland's resignation and while in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served on the standing committee on Oil and Energy Affairs in the Storting. He became the Parliamentary Leader and Prime Minister candidate for the Labour Party in February 2000. In 2000, the first cabinet of Bondevik resigned following an unsuccessful motion of confidence."
"centre ground of British politics. Our politics is the politics of the radical centre"". In the 2000s, David Cameron also moved the Conservative Party towards the centre, allowing his party to be elected in 2010 in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. In the 2015 election, the Conservatives gained a majority and the Liberal Democrats lost most of their seats. They regained a small number of seats in the 2017 election. Cameron's successor Theresa May used left-wing rhetoric on her appointment as Prime Minister, stating her wish to tackle social inequality, and adopted some of Ed Miliband's policies; for example,"
"opposed the PR system, and many members of the Shadow Cabinet were worried about concessions being made towards the Lib Dems. In the event, vitually every opinion poll since late-1992 put Labour ahead with enough support to form an overall majority. Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997, serving concurrently as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Labour Party. Aged 43, Blair became the youngest person to become Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool became Prime Minister aged 42 in 1812. With victories in 1997, 2001, and"
"on a large number of issues. The invitation was rejected at the time by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who said that the Conservatives were totally different from his party and that the Lib Dems were the true ""progressives"" in UK politics. On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a government. At age 43, Cameron became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812, beating the record previously set by Tony Blair in May 1997. In his first address outside 10"
"building a third runway. Zac Goldsmith, a backbench London Conservative MP, went even further in attacking Cameron for the apparent U-turn, saying that ""real leadership requires clarity"" and that the move reflected ""panic, not principle"". 2012 British cabinet reshuffle British prime minister David Cameron conducted the first major reshuffle of his coalition government on 4 September 2012. The reshuffle, nearly two and a half years after the government was sworn in, was highly anticipated, and eschewed the trend of annual reshuffles which had become common under the governments of the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, many ministers had been"
"and commentators predicted the outcome would be too close to call and result in a second hung parliament. Cameron said of his first term when returned as Prime Minister for a second term that he was ""proud to lead the first coalition government in 70 years"" and offered particular thanks to Clegg for his role in it. Forming the first Conservative majority government since 1992, David Cameron became the first Prime Minister to be re-elected immediately after a full term with a larger popular vote share since Lord Salisbury at the 1900 general election. In response to the November 2015"
"comfortable majority. This government was always viewed as temporary and Labour had muted looking for a coalition partner following their persevered poor showing in the 1999 election. Developments quickly occurred during the autumn culminating in Tom Middlehurst resigning as Secretary for post-16 education on 9 October claiming he could not “contemplate sitting down at the Cabinet table with the Liberal Democrats”. A new coalition government (officially referred to as the Coalition Partnership) was officially announced on 5 October 2000 with policy details emerging the day later. Cabinet Ministers were then appointed on 16 October and Deputies on 17 October. This"
"Prime Minister's Strategy Unit The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was an elite unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit dating back to 1999). The Strategy Unit was established by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, forming one part of a more streamlined centre of government along with a Delivery Unit (headed by Sir Michael Barber, focused on the delivery of public service targets), a Policy Unit (whose heads included David Miliband and Andrew Adonis, providing day-to-day policy advice) and a Communications Unit (headed by"
"Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who met with the directors of Jubilee 2000 to discuss the issue of heavy debt in poor countries. Subsequently, the Prime Minister publicly expressed his personal support for, and dedication to, debt forgiveness. While the UK's move to cancel significant third world debt was also influenced by the millennium development goals, Gordon Brown's decision to support debt cancellation at a Jubilee 2000 rally at St Paul's Cathedral underlies the significance of the movement in influencing UK policy. Later a promise from the United States during the G-7 (G-8 financial ministers, excluding"
"were quite low — under 5% — for the working class and the poor. Prime Ministers from 1900 to 1923: Marquess of Salisbury, Arthur Balfour, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, Bonar Law. Queen Victoria died in 1901 and her son Edward VII became king, inaugurating the Edwardian Era, which was characterised by great and ostentatious displays of wealth in contrast to the sombre Victorian Era. With the advent of the 20th century, things such as motion pictures, automobiles, and aeroplanes were coming into use. The new century was characterised by a feeling of great optimism. The"
"its leader Alex Salmond as First Minister. Devolution also returned to Northern Ireland, leaving England as the only constituent country of the United Kingdom without a devolved administration. Within England, a devolved authority for London was re-established following a 'yes' vote in a London-wide referendum. On 18 September 2014, a referendum on Scottish independence failed with a 55/44 percentage. Tony Blair tendered his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the Queen on 27 June 2007, his successor Gordon Brown assuming office the same afternoon. Brown took over as Prime Minister without having to face either a general"
"this he concluded that he would not be able to form a government, Brown announced his resignation as Prime Minister. He also resigned as leader of the Labour Party with immediate effect. Brown was succeeded as Prime Minister by David Cameron, while Harriet Harman became acting leader of the Labour Party. Premiership of Gordon Brown The premiership of Gordon Brown began on 27 June 2007 when Brown accepted the Queen's invitation to form a government, replacing Tony Blair as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It ended with his resignation as Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. While serving"
"Minister Tony Blair. His main role was to be a liaison between the Prime Minister and the trade unions, with whom Blair had often had a difficult relationship. In this role, he also worked heavily on the introduction of the minimum wage. Cruddas was selected to be the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the safe Labour seat of Dagenham in 2000, after the sitting MP Judith Church announced that she would be retiring. He was elected as the MP for Dagenham the following year at the 2001 general election, with a majority of 8,693 votes. From the backbenches, Cruddas quickly became"