Page "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom" Paragraph 94

The role and power of the Prime Minister have been subject to much change in the last fifty years.

There has gradually been a change from Cabinet decision making and deliberation to the dominance of the Prime Minister.

As early as 1965, in a new introduction to Walter Bagehot's classic work The English Constitution, Richard Crossman identified a new era of " Prime Ministerial " government.

Some commentators, such as the political scientist Michael Foley, have argued there is a de facto " British Presidency ".

In Tony Blair's government, many sources such as former ministers have suggested that decision-making was centred around him and Gordon Brown, and the Cabinet was no longer used for decision making.

Former ministers such as Clare Short and Chris Smith have criticised the lack of decision-making power in Cabinet.

When she resigned, Short denounced " the centralisation of power into the hands of the Prime Minister and an increasingly small number of advisers " The Butler Review of 2004 condemned Blair's style of " sofa government ".

Churchill waves to the Crowds After Announcing the Surrender of Germany 1945