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The section on "powers and restraints" suddenly mentions Gordon Brown without explaining who he is. Brown is mentioned again in the next section, "precedence and privileges", but the fact that he is Chancellor of the Exchequer should be explained on first mention.
Perhaps more importantly, the section "powers and restraints" appears to suggest that "many sources such as former ministers have suggested that decision-making is centered around him [the Prime Minister] and Gordon Brown" backs up the argument that "there has gradually been a change from Cabinet decision making and deliberation to the dominance of the Prime Minister".
In fact, although it does suggest a decline in the authority of the Cabinet as an institution, it actually suggests that "the dominance of the Prime Minister" is not an accurate description of the way the British Government operates. Some space should be given to the argument that the Prime Minister is currently constrained by the need to secure the agreement of the Chancellor.
This argument is frequently pursued by the opposition Conservative Party and by sections of the media. For example, the Chancellor, not the Prime Minister, decides how the Government's annual budget will be spent. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1076442004
I am not suggesting references to "the dominance of the Prime Minister" should be deleted, merely that the argument that the situation is more complicated than this should also be acknowledged. Hobson 01:15, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
When does of the United Kingdom apply? There should be an of England somewhere here. -- Zoe
The office of the Prime Minister did not exist in the Kingdom of England but was created during the Kingdom of Great Britain, though it did not receive constitutional status until the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, at the start of the twentieth century. JTD 05:01 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)
Well, either way, this title doesn't apply to those prior to the creation of the United Kingdom. -- Zoe
I agree with Zoe. I would have thought that it is commonly held that the PM is the PM of Great Britain, not the UK. I've always thought that the UK includes Ireland and they have thier own PM. Also if England doesn't exist how come they still have a flag and an Army and a soccer team? The reference sounds obscure, even if it is technically correct doesn't the actuality and popular belief have some relevance here? Even if it only needs to be mentioned. Axle.
--
"I've always thought that the UK includes Ireland and they have thier own PM." You really are stupid then. What's your opinion got to do with reality? 83.70.30.82 08:25, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
It certainly shouldn't say England but to properly include everyone from Walpole on it should perhaps be "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister of Great Britain" although that is a bit long. hmmm A Geek Tragedy 16:14, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Tony Blair's official title is: The Right Honorable Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland although, there is a line about being First Lord of the Treasury also... Gavin Scott 16:53, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
I think the full title is something like that with 'First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service' tacked on the end... although it's not really used. Ireland does have their own PM (Taoiseach, which I hope I've spelt correctly), but it isn't part of the UK. Northern Ireland is, however, which may be where the confusion arises. The PM is not Prime Minister of Great Britain, but of the United Kingdom, but when that started depends on whether you would date it from 1707 (union of England and Scotland) or 1801 (union with Ireland). Anyway, the only thing that can be said absolutely is that he is not and never has been Prime Minsiter of England. - CJ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.224.188 ( talk) 21:24, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
I removed the term 'semi-president' from the article as it is unclear what this phrase means and fails the google test. Perhaps quasi-presidential might be better? Pcb21 10:45 Apr 15, 2003 (UTC)
'semi-president' is a term widely used informally (eg, in political science lectures to students studying politics) to describe the role of the PM. It means, as the name suggests, half-president, ie taking on the leadership role of president but not the ceremonial head of state role, with the Queen exercises. Quasi president suggests an evolution to a form of presidency. That is not accurate. Blair and other PMs have not taken on a presidential role in all its aspects, merely a more dominant political leadership role, hence semi-president.
As to the ridiculous google test, I do wish people would stop presuming google had some authority. It doesn't. Much of what google throws up is utter garbage. For example, a google test proves Prince Charles' name is Charles Windsor throwing up tens of thousands of references to prove that. Except that is crap. As Buckingham Palace confirmed when I was checking his name for wiki, his name is Charles Mountbatten-Windsor yet google has only a handful of references to that. I could fill this page with google searchs that produce produce similar monumental factual inaccuracies. Among other errors, it gives wrong names to people like William Ewart Gladstone, Lord John Russell, etc. STÓD/ÉÍRE 17:29 Apr 15, 2003 (UTC)
(response to Jtdirl)
Sorry for not being able to get back to the page. The changes do help clarify the phrase. I might tweak one or two words, but overall it is a good change. ÉÍREman 20:44 Apr 22, 2003 (UTC)
In any case, the term semi-president is incorrect as Britain does not have a President. It would be more accurate to use either of the terms, "semi-presidential style" or even, "presidential style". As in, "semi presidential style of government".
Okay, I've been adding (rather lame) prime minister bios right and left. Now there's a bio for everyone back as far as 1783. I'll try to finish it up. A couple of questions:
First, what do people think of the lists of members of various prime ministers cabinets that I've been including in the prime minister bios? Currently, I have it from the Fox-North coalition (listed under Portland) to Baldwin's third government. I probably can expand it to show Chamberlain's cabinets, and Churchill's coalition and care-taker cabinet, but I couldn't get it past that.
Second, I've been contemplating starting an article on the positions of Lord Treasurer and First Lord of the Treasury, the precursors to the Prime Minister. The problem is, for a while these positions overlapped - you'd have a Lord Treasurer, and then the treasury would go into commission and there'd be a first commissioner or first lord, and then there'd be a lord treasurer again, until 1714. Trying to discuss the two in separate articles would be problematic, but if there is to be one article, what should it be called? [[Treasury]] is open, but that seems a bit presumptuous, given all the other meanings of Treasury. john 07:44 24 May 2003 (UTC)
Glad to see my work is appreciated. Thanks for the word of confidence. Specific Cabinet Pages might be a good idea. If you want to split them off, feel free. For the Treasury, I'm thinking "Lord Treasurer". This was the basic office, and was more used in the period before the institution of a Prime Minister. The "First Lord of the Treasury" only came about when the Treasury went into commission. Since 1714, the Treasury has always been in commission john 17:51 24 May 2003 (UTC)
Err...why don't we discuss whether or not the list should be on this page, rather than edit warring it? A major change like that ought to be discussed on the talk page before being gone ahead with. Why is the list too long? What do you mean by that? Is it really so problematic? john 20:31, 31 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Can we revert this back to the way it was. The simple list was much better than this clumsy table. Mintguy 17:21, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC)
I think the new table is much more professional and impressive than the list that was here before. Well done. FearÉIREANN 21:33, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC)
Either my book is totally wrong, or this table is. My book lists Pitt as the Prime Minister in 1757 -- followed by Bute.
LirQ
Jeez, you know your stuff. I'm impressed. I guess that means Salisbury though PM didn't live at 10 Downing Street, as that is the residence of the First Lord. I might tweek the article to mention that. That last PM not to live at No. 10 (excluding Blair who lives in Number 11) was I think Major, who lived in Admiralty House in the aftermath of the IRA mortar attack on Number 10. Of course Wilson also lived at Admiralty House when No. 10 was demolished and rebuilt after the found that it was structurally unsound (shades of the White House in the mid 1940s, when Truman lived in Blair House and the White House was reduced to a shell and rebuilt). When they checked they found that Number 10's Downing St. front isn't black at all. Cleaning showed the black was pollution. The actual colour of the brickwork was yellow. But after considering having a yellow Downing St. they decided against and so painted the newly cleaned yellow frontage black to keep the 'traditional' look. FearÉIREANN 02:23, 5 Oct 2003 (UTC)
I'm also not keen on the large table at the end of the article. Is there any strong objection to making it a seperate entry w/ link?
Also, the table gives Benjamin Disraeli only one term as Prime Minister (1874 - 1880), but Dizzy in fact had two terms (albeit the first was very short, from February 1867 until Gladstone became PM in 1868). I don't know how to alter this, could someone else? - CJ. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.224.188 ( talk) 21:30, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
I just noticed an error, it states that Ramsay MacDonald's 1929-1935 was labour when in fact only during 1929-1930 was it labour, he spent the rest of his premiership as head of the National Government G-Man 17:54, 4 Oct 2003 (UTC)
In the official 10 Downing biography, it is said that Pitt served as Prime Minister; however, the person above states that the title "prime minister" wasn't used until 1905 -- who is right? The list of First Lords doesn't list the elder Pitt at all, so if he wasn't First Lord...then what was he? Lirath Q. Pynnor
Other sources state that he became Secretary of State, in 1757
Secretary of State for what!? Mintguy 02:08, 19 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Apparently he was neither First Lord, nor Prime Minister; but, in fact, the Lord Privy Seal. Lirath Q. Pynnor
It is rather confusing. Basically different titles within the system of government were used for the first or prime minister in the cabinet at different periods. Sometimes it was Lord Privy Seal, earlier Lord Chancellor, sometimes Secretary of State (which at the time did not need qualification as the concept of multiple Secretaries of State is a relatively new phenomenon in UK constitutional theory). Usually the head of government was and is First Lord of the Treasury (hence they live at the First Lord's residence, 10 Downing Street, while the Second Lord of the Treasury, a post held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, lives at the Second Lord's residence, next door at Number 11.) Prime Minister first came officially into being in 1905, but had been used without legal existence since the eighteenth century; the PM up to 1905 exercised powers as First Lord or as the holder of other offices, but not as PM. Because there is no British constitution in the sense of a single text, no-one can say, as one could elsewhere, 'office 'x' was created in an amendment in year 'y'. Its critics call the British constitution haphazard and a mess, its supporters call it organic and flexible. But it does make clarity rather difficult in some cases to work out who and what.
Usually from Pitt it can be said that one cabinet minister was always senior, the person who from George I on chaired the cabinet, the minister who briefed the monarch, the minister who spoke for the ministry in whichever House he was based, the minister in whose official residence the cabinet met. He came to be called, on account of his seniority, the prime minister. Gradually additional powers and roles came to be played by this prime minister; the selection of ministers (as royal involvement in the process of cabinet government died away), the dismissal of ministers, the selection of portfolios for ministers, and from 1918 the sole power to advise the monarch on a dissolution of parliament (until 1918, the cabinet took the decision, with the Prime Minister simply communicating the decision to the monarch). The office underwent constant evolution; starting as in effect merely the stand-in chair of the cabinet in the absence of the monarch, the person who in an era of strong leaders (Wellington, Peel, Disraeli, Gladstone) and popular sovereignty after the Great Reform Act personified the ministry, the person who shaped the ministry (or government as it came to be called, under Lloyd George and Churchill), to the dominant force, as a form of quasi-presidential figure under Wilson, Thatcher and Blair. Unofficial tradition often became codified in law or through practice, though unless written down in law it is often difficult to know when exactly this or that specific change occured, as it evolved slowly. All we can say clearly is when some big changes occured; MPs not peers as PM (1963), PMs not cabinet deciding on elections (1918), first official mention of the PM's office (1905), etc. FearÉIREANN 19:33, 19 Oct 2003 (UTC)
I have moved the anonymous comment below and Chinju's response from the introduction of this page to this section. Hobson 01:12, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
Please note that, unlike most Presidents, British Prime Ministers do not have "terms" stemming from General Elections, since their terms of office continue through Elections and are only ended by resignation, dismissal, or death. Margaret Thatcher only had one term of office, even though she won three Elections, and Tony Blair is still in his first term of office.
What is the term of office of British prime minister? Please include in article. - Hemanshu 11:23, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)
Constitutionally the prime minister enters office by Kissing Hands and so being appointed. He or she leaves office when they either resign (after losing a general election, a budget vote or a confidence motion) or are dismissed, though the latter has not happened for centuries. Prime Ministerial appointments aren't linked to parliaments given that there is no parliamentary vote on the selection of a pm. (The nearest equivalent is the vote on the Queen's Speech, which, if it was rejected, amounts to a loss of confidence as so requires his resignation.) If a prime minister's party holds control of the House of Commons, they simply continue in power; they are not re-appointed, though the use the opportunity of the beginning of a new parliament after a general election to reshuffle the cabinet. So Margaret Thatcher was prime minister once; she was appointed in 1979 and remained pm continually in the post until she resigned. Blair has been pm once, since 1997. In the early 1970s Ted Heath initially chose not to resign after a general election defeat until he explored the prospect of forming a coalition government with the Liberals. Only when the talks failed did Heath formally resign, and only when he had done so did the Queen commission Harold Wilson to form a government. FearÉIREANN 20:56, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)
Lir raised some questions about the table of PMs in the eighteenth century in the Wiki Requests for Peer Review. Perhaps we could improve this article's discussion of how the office evolved, but her specific question was about order and dates for specific ministries.
I've checked several sources for the Wiki list and its dates and sequence. I'm primarily relying on two books (with some risk since both come from J.H. Plumb of Cambridge): The First Four Georges and Chatham. The entire office was evolving in the 18th century, and wasn't always coupled with another specific ministry (e.g. 1st Lord of the Treasury). Other questions are raised by the general attempt in the table to use one (or sometimes two dates) to presume an instant transition. Since they were frequently messy affairs, no single table can do justice to the events. That said, my general inclination is to leave the table alone, its about as good as can be without involved discussions, which might fit into individual articles, but not here. (I might make only one date change, to the Devonshire-Newcastle transition to 29 June on both sides) There are two specific questions Lir raised at issue here:
Hope this helps, Lou I 18:17, 23 Jan 2004 (UTC)
I was just comparing the look of this page with President of the United States. We need some images! They use (in order from top to bottom of the page):
Before I saw that list, I was going to say that Blair should be included by default, but perhaps that isn't necessary. We could have a quick discussion on who's significant enough to include (and pragmatically, we might consider which PMs already have good photos uploaded to wikipedia). Is there something equivelant to the official seal that would be relevant to this article?
Also, for those who don't like the look of the table, check out their table, it's more streamlined, and colour-coded for parties which looks good. Fabiform 23:22, 24 Jan 2004 (UTC)
I'd say Walpole, Pitt the Younger, Palmerston, Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Churchill, Thatcher, Blair would be good candidates for pictures. (of course, Campbell-Bannerman was the first to officially hold the office of "Prime Minister", as opposed to it as an unofficial office). I don't think there's an official seal that would have to do with the Prime Minister - the Great Seal is held by the Lord Chancellor, and the Privy Seal by the Lord Privy Seal. john 01:08, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)
Jdforrester - I like what you did to the table. I streamlined it a little bit (removed boarders). I don't really know which pictures would be best. I'd definately agree with Churchill, Thatcher, Blair as being a reasonable modern selection, as for the more historic PMs, it's not really my specialist subject. Fabiform 03:18, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)
Right, if you have a look here: Talk:Prime Minister of the United Kingdom/Images you can see images of the PMs mentioned so far. Comments, additional pictures, nominations, votes, etc.... Who should be featured on Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? -- Fabiform 04:53, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)
Is it technically correct to say that the PM is the most senior member of HM Government? The Lord Chancellor is higher in precedence, certainly. What exactly does "most senior" mean? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he is the leader of HM Government? john 04:36, 27 Jan 2004 (UTC)
If we're going to list Fox&North in 1783 instead of Portland, then we should list Pitt as PM from 1756 to 1757, Pitt&Newcastle for 1757-1761, and Bute&Newcastle for 1761-1762. It should also have Carteret for 1742-1744. john 05:11, 19 Feb 2004 (UTC)
Yes, that is my feeling as well. I'm going to reinstate Portland. john 04:32, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
I think Wellington was only standing in for Peel and did not formally form a government - he actually decline William IV's commission in favour of Peel. I don't think he is considered Prime Minister, merely someone acting as head of the government whilst the PM is incapacitated or the post is vacant. Timrollpickering 14:14, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Currently in the article:
Is it really customary that there is one living prime minister without honours. Or is it supposed to mean that all ex-Prime Ministers get honours? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 08:30, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)
One would assume the latter. Although it's not quite true, is it? Former PMs who retire from the commons are generally raised to the peerage. But ones still sitting in the Commons are not usually given honors, so far as I'm aware. And knighthoods seem to be very occasional - the only one I can think of in recent history is for Heath (Churchill got his while he was PM, and Eden and Douglas-Home before they became PMs). john 09:15, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Is it even true? Major is a CH, Thatcher an LG and a Baroness, Callaghan a KG and a Baron and Heath a KG. They certainly sound like honours to me... Proteus 12:02, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)
The list of PMs is color-coded by party, but there's no key, which limits the effectiveness. -- orthogonal 00:18, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)
America's use of colors reversed from the rest of the world's dates back earlier than 2000. (It's fair to say, though, that this election locked them in permanently -- previously, not every media outlet had always concurred.) I think to most Americans our colors are actually intuitive: Republicans (as Americans see it) are harsh (red); Democrats are wishy-washy (blue). The whole "socialism and unions = red" thing isn't really a part of American consciousness. As far as this article is concerned, though, I don't think a key is needed -- each line already mentions the prime minister's party by name! The color merely highlights this. I do wonder, though, why the whigs' color is closer to labour's than to the Liberals'. Surely, since the liberals grew from the whigs, their colors should be the ones to be similar. Doops 02:11, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Some thoughts on the earlier portion of the list...First: Should Lord Grenville be considered a " Whig"? He was a former supporter of Pitt, and his supporters, the Grenvillites, were distinct from Fox and Grey's Whigs, with whom (along with the Sidmouthites) they formed the "Government of All the Talents". Perhaps this should be noted as a coalition of some sort, and color coded as such. Similarly, the Canning and Goderich governments were effectively coalitions, with prominent Whigs like Lamb and Lansdowne participating. As such, perhaps a different color scheme from the more orthodoxly tory Liverpool and Wellington administrations that preceded and followed them would be in order. Finally, in the early period of George III - the governments between Bute and North, inclusive, the normal Whig/ Tory distinction is hard to make. Bute is always called a "Tory", but I think this was more a term of abuse by his opponents than him being part of any organized "Tory" party, which didn't exist at the time in any real way. By the time of North, the term "Tory" was still being used as abuse, but a recognizable embryo of Pitt's Tory party was starting to emerge, so the use of Tory is probably appropriate. What about the guys in between? The only one that I think is in any way clear is Rockingham's, which was old line Newcastle Whigs. But the politics of the period were essentially factional, and you have some factions that are proto-Whigs (primarily Rockingham's), some that are proto-Tories (the "King's Party", or whatever), and others that are just very difficult to classify (the Chathamites, for instance. Or the Bedfordites, or George Grenville and his followers). The color coding seems to me to suggest a degree of uniformity which is misleading, although I'm not sure the best way to handle this. BTW, what happened to "National Labour" after MacDonald and Snowden were gone from the scene? john k 20:50, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Well, Palmerston himself was not exactly a Whig...He began his career as a Canningite, and was never really at home with the Whigs. But I'll defer to you on 1827-1828. As to the All the Talents ministry, I'm not sure. The ministry had some old Foxite whigs (besides Fox himself, there was Grey, Petty, Erskine, probably Moira), people like Grenville, Windham, Spencer, and Fitzwilliam who had served in Pitt's first government, and then the Sidmouthites - Sidmouth and Ellenborough - who are generally considered to be Tories. It was essentially a coalition of everyone who was dissatisfied with the followers of the late Pitt, including various people who either had, or would later, participate in governments with the Pittites. And it was headed by a man (and, after Fox's death, actually directed by him) who was not himself obviously a "Whig". The All the Talents ministry (as its name suggests) is frequently described as a coalition. I'd suggest that we give it the coalition color, rather than the "Whig" pink. Another question - what about the first Palmerston government? I've usually read it described as a "personalist" government - not really a party government at all. Russell, the leading Whig when the government was formed, almost immediately departed...on the other hand, the government consisted pretty much entirely of Whigs. john k 16:27, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Further research has yielded a list of occasions when the government of the day resigned, but the opposition declined to take office and so the government returned. For a bit in the meantime there was nominally no government.
These occasions were:
7th-10th May 1839 - Melbourne and his government resigned, but Peel refused to take office so Melbourne returned. I forget what the issue for Melbourne resigning was, but Peel wanted change some of the Queen's staff and refused office when he couln't.
6th-20th December 1845. Peel tried to resign - possibly to being in office and having to handle the question of the Corn Laws - but no alternative administration would take office and so he returned.
22nd February-3rd March 1851. Lord John Russell's government resigned but the Conservatives didn't feel they were in a strong enough position to take office (and the next time they did, it was a very inexperienced team), so Russell returned.
13th-16th March 1873. Gladstone resigned after a defeat in the Commons but Disraeli declined office so Gladstone returned.
In each of the last three cases, the government that returned to office limped on for less than a year before finally falling.
Should we include these occasions in the list? Timrollpickering 19:51, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)
I imagine he was First Lord of the Treasury. Calling him Prime Minister seems a bit dubious, although I suppose we do the same with the Duke of Devonshire or the Earl of Wilmington...but I've never seen this Lord Waldegrave on any list that I've come across. Was this following the dismissal of the Devonshire ministry but before the creation of the Newcastle one? john k 17:14, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)
I notice that there are redirects from 'British Prime Minister' and 'Prime Minister of Great Britain'. I support this solution to widespread misunderstanding and mislabelling. There is a lot of confusion about Britain and British.
However, this issue does not merely apply in references to the Prime Minister, it applies generally in references to the nation, culture, and people. I am no longer surprised to read things similar to The RAF of
Great Britain or
Great Britain has traded with the United States for more than two centuries. I am considering proposing a similar redirect solution for Great Britain -> United Kingdom and Britain -> United Kingdom. Your comments are welcome.
Bobblewik 10:26, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Hi. I'm wondering if anybody could explain why all the series are disappearing and being replaced by categories? I have nothing against categories, mind you; but for certain topics that nice, clear series box helped you navigate the whole thing in a logical way. You could see how articles related to one another, you could go through the main ones in sequence and know that you had read them all; it organized links from the page into a coherent whole. Why have they gone out of favor? Doops 16:36, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Once we've settled on which form the series box should take, it will be clear where on the page it belongs; but until then, as long as it keeps getting reverted back and forth, don't forget that each time it happens the box has to be relocated here (and on other series pages). So in moving it today, I wasn't being ideological, just practical. (In case anybody cares, though, I do have to say that I agree with DeusEx, the old version is nicer than Lord Emsworth's new version.) Doops 01:47, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Does the PM's official title actually end with "of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"? No other government minister's title does. Proteus (Talk) 12:13, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The position of "Prime Minister" has been an official one since 1905, when the Prime Minister was given precedence immediately after the Archbishop of York. While no other government minister's title may include "of the UK", by the way, there is certainly the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. I'm not sure if there are any others (is there a fuller title for the Lord Great Chamberlain, for instance? Or for the Lord High Constable and the Lord High Steward when these offices are resurrected at coronations?) john k 18:46, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 |
We may as well save ourselves some time and add Cameron to the artilce already... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.170.21.205 ( talk) 02:26, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
Recently, the following paragraph was added to the section "Constitutional Background":
I have changed it to a footnote and deleted a sentence for the following reasons:
1. The paragraph doesn't really add anything to the previous paragraph. Her "reserve powers" are really the same as her "prerogative powers" that are still available (as noted in the previous paragraph) but have fallen into disuse. The fact that Queen Elizabeth II has never used her "reserve powers" only reinforrces the point made in the previous paragraph.
2. The "example" of William iv dismissing a government as a sovereign's use of a reserve power really doesnt illustrate this at all. As discussed in detail in the later section "The Great Reform Bill - Grey" this incident actually illustrates why sovereigns STOPPED using the prerogative power of appointing PM. I therefore deleted this sentence in the footnote.
3. The sentence about the sovereign's reserve powers with respect to the various Governors General, while it may be true (I dont know enough about this to say that it is true), is beside the point and distracting. This is an article about the PM of the United Kingdom not the sovereign's political relationships with the leaders of the various commonwealth nations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terence ( talk • contribs) 09:48, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
The info box should be edited to change the appointer being listed as the Crown to either Elizabeth II or to The Sovereign linking to the British monarchy page. The Crown is analogous to the state in the Commonwealth realms and shouldn’t be used as shorthand for the King/Queen of the United Kingdom. 2A00:23C8:A2CD:D01:CAA:87C3:17DF:535B ( talk) 20:39, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
The second paragraph says "It was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 31 January 2022 that the office of Prime Minister would be formally established" but that isn't what the cited article says. It says he's creating an "office of the prime minister" i.e. a group of civil servants led by a permanent secretary to support the prime minister.
It's talking about these people:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prime-ministers-office-10-downing-street
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prime-ministers-office-10-downing-street/about
The actual office of prime minister (not the office of the prime minister) remains as it's always been.
43.225.113.167 ( talk) 15:00, 12 April 2022 (UTC)
Rumored to be kicked out by the queen herself, Boris Johnson resigned along with most of his staff aswell, so it needs updating https://www.wsj.com/articles/boris-johnson-prime-minister-resigns-uk-government-11657144874 MagentiumPRIME ( talk) 06:40, 25 July 2022 (UTC)