Britain: Prime Ministers, Cabinets and the Struggle for Supremacy

Abstract

The office of the British prime minister is not to any similar extent an autonomous position, as is the office of the American president. Whereas the supremacy of the prime minister over other actors in the British core executive has increased significantly, both politically and constitutionally, over recent decades, British politics, even in the core executive territory, remains very much a team game. Thus, it seems only natural that many of the constitutional and political qualifications for the office of prime minister have to be acquired within the other institutions of British politics, such as parliament, the cabinet and the political parties.