Michelle Linthout I6095412 Word count:1108 (8) Coalition government in Britain: What are some of the implications of a coalition government? Introduction In 2010, Britain established its first coalition government since 1945. For 65 years, single party governments dominated Britain. It is known that the UK constitution is essentially “unwritten”. Therefore constitutional conventions flow from a variety of documents or common practice. If single party governments have been in power for so long, how will the constitutional norms apply to a different kind of government? This essay seeks to explore some the implications of a coalition government and how it differs from single party governments. As …show more content…
In a single party government, the choice of ministers is at the discretion of the prime minister alone. In a coalition, the power of the prime minister is significantly limited. Officially Cameron is the prime minister, who has the ability to form his own government. However, in a coalition, the deputy prime minister has a bigger role than his predecessors. He too has a role in appointing ministers. Ministerial positions are divided in proportion to the sizes of the two parties in the House of Commons. Optimally, this means that each committee in the government should embody both members of the conservatives and liberal-democrats. Cameron is responsible for choosing the conservatives to fill ministerial positions, whereas Clegg is responsible for choosing liberal democrats. However, Cameron cannot dismiss a liberal-democratic minister without the consultation of his counter-part, …show more content…
As the presence of a coalition was uncommon till now, new constitutional norms were created and old ones were revised. For the doctrine of ministerial accountability, it isn’t important how many parties run the government, but that it is still one government. The members of government should all adopt the same position to ensure certainty and confidence in the government. The coalition also had great effect on the prime minister’s power when appointing ministers. Instead of choosing ministers at his own discretion, Cameron had to consult Clegg about it. The coalition didn’t cause much change in the House of Lords. Many feared the presence of a party majority would give rise to problems, but in fact the House of Lords remained effective. As a result of the coalition, Cameron and Clegg foresaw some disagreements between the two parties and created the coalition committee to settle disputes that would