Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Under its unwritten constitution, the United Kingdom possesses no formal permanent office of Deputy Prime Minister. However in special circumstances in the 20th and 21st centuries British Prime Ministers have chosen to designate one of their cabinet colleagues to possess such a role as a form of honorific. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, a British Deputy Prime Minister, where one exists, possesses no special powers above those of his ministry and does not possess the theoretical powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence or illness, such as the powers to seek a dissolution of parliament, appoint peers or brief the sovereign. In practice however, the designation of someone to the role of Deputy Prime Minister may give them an additional practical status within cabinet, enabling them to exercise de facto even if not de jure powers.

Why no deputy prime minister?

Many theories exist as to absence of a formal post of Deputy Prime Minister in Britain's unwritten constitution. Theoretically the sovereign possesses the unrestricted right to choose someone to form a governmentIn the British constitutional tradition, the sovereign invites someone to form a government "capable of surviving in the House of Commons". This is not the same as having a majority. In theory a minority government could survive if the opposition parties were divided on issues and so failed to all vote together against the government. In times of national emergency, sovereigns set a different, higher standard, namely that a government be formed "capable of commanding a majority in the House of Commons." In the event of no party possessing a majority, this forces the party invited to form a government to enter into a coalition with another party. This latter request was made on only a handful of cases, most notably in 1916 when King George V invited Andrew Bonar Law to form a government, who declined so the King invited David Lloyd George to form a government, and in 1940 when King George VI invited Lord Halifax, and when he declined, Winston Churchill to form a government. Both Lloyd George and Churchill were forced by the nature of their commission to form coalition governments. following the death, resignation, or dismissal of a prime minister.No prime minister has been dismissed by a sovereign since 1834. Except in exceptional circumstances it is thought unlikely that a prime minister would ever be dismissed. Stanley de Smith and Rodney Brazier, Constitutional and Administrative Law (Penguin, 1989) p.116. One argument made to justify the non-existence of a permanent deputy premiership is that such an office-holder would be seen as possessing a presumption of succession to the premiership, so effectively limiting the sovereign's right to choose a prime minister.In practice the monarch's choice has been limited by the evolution of a clear party structure, with each party possessing a structure by which leaders are elected. Only where no party has a majority, or where a division exists between the person chosen by the party's electoral college and its MPs on who should be prime minister, can a modern sovereign expect to be make a decision on who to appoint.

In practice, of the rare occasions where someone has been designed as deputy prime minister only one holder of the position has gone on to be appointed prime minister. Sir Anthony Eden was appointed not because he had been deputy prime minister, but because he had long been seen as Churchill's heir apparent and natural successor.

The intermittent existence of a deputy prime minister has been on occasion so informal that there have been a number of occasions on which dispute has arisen as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred. On some occasions the post First Secretary of State has been conferred on the Deputy Prime Minister. While Deputy Prime Minister is effectively an honorific which carries with it no salary, First Secretary of State is a salaried cabinet position, albeit with no responsibilities. When John Prescott lost his ministerial responsibilities in a reshuffle in 2005 he was given the post of First Secretary of State to enable him to receive a ministerial post and a seat in cabinet. Without it, he would have been ineligible to be Deputy Prime Minister.

Choice

Where someone is designed Deputy Prime Minister it can be for a number of reasons:

as a consolation prize to a senior party figure whose hopes of becoming leader and prime minister had been dashed (for example, Michael Heseltine, Rab Butler)
as a status symbol to reward a senior party figure for their loyalty; (for example William Whitelaw)
as a means of giving additional status to the leader of the junior partner in a coalition government; (for example Clement Attlee in Churchill's wartime coalition)
as a method of silencing a critic by giving them the appearance of additional status; (for example, Sir Geoffrey Howe, having been removed from the Foreign Office)
as a way of giving the Deputy Leader of the Party a symbolic status in government. (for example, John Prescott)

The Deputy Prime Ministership, where it exists, may bring with it practical influence depending on the status of the holder, rather than the status of the position.

Labour Party leader Clement Attlee held the post in the wartime coalition government led by Winston Churchill, and had general responsibility for domestic affairs, allowing Churchill to concentrate on the war. Rab Butler held the post in 1962-3 under Harold Macmillan, but was passed over for the premiership in favour of Alec Douglas-Home.

William Whitelaw was Margaret Thatcher's deputy from 1979-1988, a post he combined with that of Home Secretary in 1979-83 and Leader of the House of Lords after 1983. Sir Geoffrey Howe was given the title in 1989, on being removed from the post of Foreign Secretary. He resigned as Deputy Prime Minister in 1990, making a resignation speech that is widely thought to have hastened Thatcher's downfall. Thatcher's successor John Major did not appoint a Deputy Prime Minister until 1995, when Michael Heseltine was given the post.

Other Functions

John Prescott, who was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in opposition, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister by Tony Blair in 1997, in addition to being Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. In 2001 this "superdepartment" was split up, with Prescott being given his own Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with fewer specific responsibilities. In May 2006 the department was removed from the control of the Deputy Prime Minister and renamed as the Department for Communities and Local Government with Ruth Kelly as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Residence

Given that there is no constitutional office of Deputy Prime Minister, with the position being recreated on a case by case basis, the person who holds the post has no official residence. As a cabinet minister however they may have the use of a grace and favour London residence and country house. John Prescott had the use of a flat in Admiralty House and Dorneywood, a country residence. With his loss of ministerial status in 2005 he technically lost both residences, along with his salary. He was made First Secretary of State to enable him to keep both his residences and his salary.