Prime Minister and executive
What the specification requires, the knowledge and concepts behind it, the debates it raises and how to use it in an exam.
Specification requirements
- The structure, role and powers of the executiveSpecification requirement
- The concept of ministerial responsibilitySpecification requirement
- The Prime Minister and the cabinetSpecification requirement
Source to checkParaphrased from Pearson’s A level Politics specification, Issue 4 (first teaching September 2026, first assessment June 2028). Section titles for this topic still need a line-by-line check. Requirement detail is entered as each topic is developed.
Current affairs
Deputy Prime Minister resigns after breaching the Ministerial Code
A senior minister resigned after an independent finding that she had breached the code, even though the breach was found to be unintentional. It is a clear recent example of individual ministerial responsibility operating through personal conduct rather than departmental failure.
Labour backbench rebellion forces concessions on welfare reform
A government with a very large majority still had to retreat in the face of its own backbenchers. The example is valuable because it cuts against the assumption that a large majority guarantees executive dominance.
Privileges Committee finds Boris Johnson deliberately misled the House
The case shows Parliament enforcing its own rules against a former Prime Minister, through a committee with a majority from his own party. It is strong evidence for the accountability function of Parliament and for the expectation that ministers must not knowingly mislead the House.
Mass resignations force Boris Johnson to resign as Conservative leader
The episode shows that a Prime Minister who had won a large majority in 2019 could still be removed by colleagues. It illustrates that prime ministerial power is conditional on the support of the cabinet and the parliamentary party.
Supreme Court rules the 2019 prorogation of Parliament unlawful
The judgment showed the Supreme Court setting legal limits on a prerogative power to protect Parliament’s role. It remains the leading example in debates about the political role of the judiciary and about relations between the executive, Parliament and the courts.
Current affairsEach card is a single shared record, linked here by its specification references.Open this topic in Current Affairs
Sources
2 sources cited on this pageShowHide
- 1A level Politics specification, Issue 4
Pearson Edexcel · 2026 · SpecificationOpened 4 November 2026 - 2Edexcel AS and A level Politics specification amendments
Pearson · 22 June 2026 · SpecificationOpened 4 November 2026