Cabinet

The Cabinet is the pre-eminent body of government of the United Kingdom.

It is made up of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and all other Secretaries of State, including other Ministers of ‘Cabinet-rank’ such as the Chief Whip, any Minister without Portfolio (normally a party Chairman) or some other key Ministers (such as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury) and the Commons and Lords business managers (the Leaders of both Houses).

As of July 2024, the following sat in the Cabinet:

  • Keir Keir Starmer – Prime Minister

  • Angela Rayner – Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

  • Rachel Reeves – Chancellor of the Exchequer

  • Pat McFadden – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

  • David Lammy – Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

  • Yvette Cooper – Secretary of State for the Home Department

  • John Healey – Secretary of State for Defence

  • Shabana Mahmood – Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

  • Wes Streeting – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

  • Bridget Phillipson – Secretary of State for Education

  • Ed Miliband – Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

  • Liz Kendall – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

  • Jonathan Reynolds – Secretary of State for Business and Trade

  • Peter Kyle – Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

  • Heidi Alexander – Secretary of State for Transport

  • Steve Reed – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

  • Lisa Nandy – Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

  • Hilary Benn – Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

  • Ian Murray – Secretary of State for Scotland

  • Jo Stevens – Secretary of State for Wales

  • Lucy Powell – Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

  • Baroness Smith – Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords

  • Alan Campbell – Chief Whip in the House of Commons

  • Darren Jones – Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

  • Richard Hermer KC – Attorney General

It is the Cabinet’s endorsement of decisions as a whole that forms the instrument of government in the United Kingdom.

The key convention for Cabinet Government is that of ‘collective responsibility.’ This means that all members of the Cabinet must abide by and support its decisions, regardless of their individual view on a specific matter in question. Any member who dissents after a Cabinet decision has been taken, or who refuses to toe the line, would be expected to resign, or at the very least to remain silent on the issue.

Meetings of the full Cabinet are normally held once a week on a Thursday morning, although historically the frequency has varied. The Prime Minister sets the agenda for meetings and chairs proceedings. Members of the Cabinet present papers prepared by their departments to their colleagues for endorsement. The backing of the Cabinet is the strongest endorsement a policy can obtain from government.

Cabinet provides a forum for debate for key government figures, allowing for compromises to be struck, for dissent to be acknowledged and for future policy direction to be considered.

The length and content of Cabinet meetings is often taken as an indication of a Prime Minister’s style of leadership – whether Cabinet is used as a genuine forum for debate, or as a ‘rubber-stamping’ exercise. Prime Ministers will often seek Cabinet approval for their approaches to ensure all Ministers are ‘on-side’.

Minutes of Cabinet meetings are taken.  These are distributed to those in attendance and to top civil servants. Votes are not taken, as all decisions are made unanimously and individual opinions are not recorded. Minutes of Cabinet meetings, and copies of the papers presented, are released publicly after a time delay of 30 years.