5. Parliament and Government: Influence

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module Alan Johnson answers the question: “How much of an influence does Parliament have on government decisions, and how has this changed over time?”, focusing in particular on: (i) internal party discord; (ii) a controversial example of Parliament’s involvement in government decisions: the Iraq War; (iii) comparisons to Boris Johnson’s current government; (iv) the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons in increasing Parliament’s influence over the government.

Course

This course takes the form of a series of questions put to former Labour MP and Cabinet member, Alan Johnson. In the first module we ask, “What is the relationship between the Prime Minister and Cabinet?”. We follow this in the second module with a question on the role of Labour’s NEC, and the internal workings of parliamentary parties more generally. In the third module, we ask which of Alan Johnson’s actions or policies as an MP made the biggest impact, before turning in the fourth module to the timely subject of how much power the Secretary for Health has when coordinating a response to a pandemic. In the fifth module we ask, “How much of an influence does Parliament have on government decisions?”, focusing on change over time. We then turn in the sixth module to the question of Parliament’s efficiency, asking: “If you could change one thing about the parliamentary process to make it more efficient, what would it be and why?”. In the seventh module, we cover the biggest misconceptions about MPs, before in the eighth module asking how the role of the media in politics changed during Alan Johnson’s career. We conclude in the ninth module with a question on whether the pomp and ceremony of Parliament is off-putting to citizens in our democracy. This course provides both conceptual knowledge and a variety of helpful real-life examples for the “UK Politics” section of the A Level exam specifications.

Lecturer

Alan Johnson spent 20 years as an MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle before retiring from the Commons in 2017. During his career, he served in multiple New Labour Cabinets. His positions included: Home Secretary (2009-10), Secretary of State for Health (2007-09), Secretary of State for Education (2006-07), Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (2005-06), and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2004-05).