The PM has Forgotten Where Power Truly Resides

Marie Le Conte | Issue 3 | Comment, Magazine

From the Archive

John Kerry John Bercow William Hague House of Commons — On Brexit and everything else, wars were won and lost on the green benches

To soothe public outrage, says Marie Le Conte, the government need to look beyond the green benches

Marcus Rashford and his campaign for free school meals have revealed the weakness of the PM’s authority.

I’ve been thinking about power recently; who has it, who gets to have it, and where battles to gain it are fought. As Westminster denizens, we had become used to focusing on the chamber of the House of Commons, sometimes the House of Lords’. In the absence of a decent majority, parties that were not the Conservatives could cause trouble for the government through debates, votes, motions and amendments. On Brexit and everything else, wars were won and lost on the green benches.

This changed just over a year ago when Boris Johnson won his landslide. Suddenly, there wasn’t much for the government to worry about; no need to keep a close eye on how everyone was going to vote, on its own benches and the ones opposite. Though the whips presumably breathed a sigh of relief, this did not mean that the government could simply start doing what it wanted, with no-one standing in its way. To misquote Jurassic Park, opposition, uh, finds a way.

Sure, there was a honeymoon period – or, well, a “global pandemic ensuring politics cannot work as usual” phase – but it is definitely over. We are seeing it, most notably, with Marcus Rashford and his free school meals campaign. While the government comfortably won the Commons vote on the topic, the outrage has not died down, and while the Labour …

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