Centralisation of power in the mind of the Prime Minister has long gone past its sell-by date.
Self-interest plays a major part in the mindset of the head of government. Popularity and personal prestige influence decision making over the interests of the country.
A Prime Minister often seems to invite an MP to become a minister in the cabinet based on friendship, loyalty, education or because the MP is not a future threat to his or her leadership.
Members of Parliament may have excellent qualities, a depth of experience and knowledge of a specific area of policy and vision yet the Prime Minister will leave them on the back benches for one personal reason or another.
These are two examples of abuse of power among many.
The country needs a root and branch change through levelling down the Prime Minister in terms of personal power over his cabinet and levelling up a sharing of power of all the MPS on who governs.
Sadly, UK institutions have always preferred to living in the past than in the present. Parliament is no exception.
30 Proposals for a Major Change in the Election and Role of the Prime Minister and Ministers
- Conservative Party and the Labour Party must adopt the same procedure and requirements for a top job as employed in much of the private and public sector.
- Candidate to be Leader of their Party and possible Prime Minister submits a CV (Curriculum Vitae) to a Parliament Committee of the Party to see if he or she is deemed suitable for probably the most influential role in public life.
- Candidate would present their CV to show his or her education, work experience, travel experience, life experience, salary/income memberships and lifestyle.
- A Parliamentary Committee would investigate the details of the CV as well interview the Candidate.
- Committee of the Party would conduct several interviews with their Candidate(s) for the top job.
- Aspiring Party Leader/Prime Minister would provide a portfolio of their political analysis over years to show their ability to become ‘CEO’ of the UK.
- CV and portfolio would be publicly available.
- Aspiring Leader would provide educational background, references from schools, references from previous employers and others who have known the candidate in specific roles for an extended period of time.
- Candidate would share errors of judgement in the past, such as words discriminating against minorities, prejudices, aggression and more.
- Candidate would show the Committee the steps taken to rectify questionable views, fake news and
- Candidate would tell the committee of ways they have worked on themselves.
- Committee would give much emphasis to ethics, integrity and transparency.
- This approach enables the Party to have knowledge and understanding of the background of the candidates.
- The MPs would feel well informed so they could make a suitable choice who leads the Party and perhaps the country
- Each candidate would tell the committee of their policies, foreign and domestic, without using notes or prepared statements.
- Committee would engage in probing questions to find out the suitability of the aspiring Prime Minster.
- Committee finds out if the Candidate comes across as trustworthy in the past and present.
- Committee would permit a maximum number of their Members of Parliament to put themselves forward as a Candidate.
- Candidate would require a minimum number of Parliamentarians recommending them to be leader of the Party/ future Prime Minister.
- Committee would provide a succinct summary upon the completion of the meetings with the Candidates.
- Committee would video and record the meeting making it available for every Member of their Party to watch immediately after if they so wished.
- Committee would have a policy of transparency in their conduct of the interviews.
- Committee recognises the personal preferences of the Prime Minister may have little or no relationship to the necessary qualities to establish a Minister for one of the 22 cabinet positions available.
- The Prime Minister would not have the authority to select a person or committee to investigate issues involving ethics.
- Parliamentary committee would put an end to the Leader of the Conservative or Labour Party choosing his or her shadow cabinet if in opposition or cabinet if elected to be Prime Minister.
- Prime Minister would not choose his Ministers for the main positions in the Cabinet.
- Members of Parliament would choose the 22 Ministers deemed to be the best qualified to be a minister in the cabinet.
- Members could review every two years whether the Prime Minister or a Minister carried the empathy and authority to implement a thoughtful vision as a Minister.
- Ministers would consist of a Collegiate of Quality.
- The Party would ensure the cream of the milk in the Party form the government.
PS. Let us explore ways to reduce the power in the hands of a President, Prime Minister or those who control a military alliance. The centralisation of power feeds their ego of the leader, week by week, year by year,
An inflated political ego can reveal itself as self-righteousness, threats, aggression, punishment and craving to expand influence.
It will end in tears.