American Reacts Yes, Prime Minister - Foreign Office
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Original Video: • Video
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Hi everyone! I'm an American from the Northeast (New England). I want to create a watering hole for people who want to discuss, learn and teach about history through RUclips videos which you guys recommend to me through the comment section or over on Discord. Let's be respectful but, just as importantly, not be afraid to question any and everything about historical records in order to give us the most accurate representation of the history of our species and of our planet!
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The 4 stage plan is brilliant
Stage 1: We say nothing is going to happen.
Stage 2: We say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it.
Stage 3: We say maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do.
Stage 4: We say maybe there was something, but it's too late now.
It’s definitely one of my favourites in the show
And still current day policy!
@@jonisilk you are absolutely right.
In the 1890's a German diplomat said to a French diplomat "The problem with you democracies is that your always changing your foreign policy every time you change your government!".
The Frenchman replied "Actually when you look at the history of democracies there is more consistency with their policies. It's when the power is in the hands of one individual that you have more uncertainty of policy"
MPs are elected 'Members of Parliament', meaning members of the House of Commons. Even the Prime Minister is an MP. The House of Commons has 2 sets of benches. There are the Government benches, where the MPs of the governing party (or parties) sit. Opposite and directly facing the government benches, are the Opposition benches. The Opposition benches are filled by MPs from the parties that aren't in government. Executive power is held by the Cabinet and the Cabinet are the MPs, appointed by the Prime Minister, to run the various departments of state, such as Education, Health, Defence etc. They are usually called 'Secretary of State' or 'Minister'. The Prime Minister is usually the head of the largest party and/or is able to command a majority in the House, sometimes in coalition with other parties. The largest opposition party are titled Her Majesty's Official Opposition. The leader of this party chooses a Shadow Cabinet, to 'shadow' the Cabinet. Thus there will be a Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Education, Defence etc. The Cabinet and the Shadow Cabinet sit on the front benches on their side of the chamber, just a few feet across from each other. Thus, members of both the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet are referred to as 'frontbenchers'. MPs not in either the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet sit in the rows of benches behind the front benches and are thus referred to as 'backbenchers'. :)
Very comprehensive and easy to understand 👍🏻
Well said that man.
The above is referred to as the Westminster System of government which is used by 35 countries; 15 of which are Commonwealth realms.
Excellent synopsis!
That was one excellent description!!
In Seasons 1 and 2, James "Jim" Hacker (not in this scene) is minister in the fictional "Ministry of Administrative Affairs". He becomes minister in the very first episode after his (unnamed) party wins an election. He is introduced to the Permanent Secretary of the Department, Sir Humphrey Appleby, and his Principle Private Secretary, Bernhard Wooley. These two are professional civil servants/bureaucrats, while Hacker is a politician with a background in journalism. Basically, Hacker hasn't a clue about the internal workings of government and it is really Humphrey and his collegues who run the government and the country. So there is a constant powerstruggle between Hacker and Humphrey, with Bernhard torn between his loyalties to both of them.
In the last episode of season 2, Humphrey becomes Cabinet Secretary and thus the most powerful man in the country, since he is now the highest ranking civil servant and can influence the Prime Minister. However, because of some political shenanigans, he effectively makes Hacker the next (easy to manipulate) PM and Bernhard becomes Hackers head private secretary in Downing Street Number 10. This is the constellation we see here. The power struggle has moved to a higher level.
Well put.
Isnt it in the Pilot that he is a conservative?
@@John-Ginger No, they never say which party it is. After all, "Yes Minister" isn't about partisan conflicts, but about the conflict between the civil service and politicians in general. Or as Hacker once put it: "[The other party] is the opposition in exile, but the civil service is the opposition in residence."
@@John-Ginger No, it is never stated.
@@John-Ginger nope always fictional, he has a white rosette, you might be thinking of New Statesman
We give them every support, short of help. Brutal.
Bernard is the Prime ministers personal private secretary . Humphry is the head of the civil service. James Hacker is the minister and later on prime minister. Sadly Paul Eddington was already seriously ill when the second series was filmed and he passed away of Prostate cancer soon after. He was such a sad loss
1988 Yes Prime Minister ended, Paul Eddington died in 1995. He'd lived with cancer from his early 20's.
You are right, the PM isn’t in this clip. He was the gentleman you pointed your cursor at earlier on! Oh and you need to check out the “State of Education” clip. Bit of wonderful comic timing from Bernard.
He really is a little dense sometimes.
An MP is a Member of Parliament, and elected representative. Similar to a Congressman. A back bench MP simply denotes that they aren't in charge of a department or have a specific responsibility.
A Cabinet Minister is in charge of a department, Minister For Trade, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer, etc. They have been promoted from the back benches, given a department to head up and sit on the front bench of the House of Commons, along side the Prime Minister.
The rank will be something like MP, Junior Minister, Minister, Cabinet Minister, Deputy Prime Minister (not always a post) and Prime Minister.
Cabinet Ministers are the inner circle, the Prime Ministers Cabinet. The most important MP's in the Prime Minister's party.
There are probably many more nuances, but that is the essence of it. The basics.
In addition, Parliament is divided into two houses, the House of Commons (the Lower House) which is similar but not exactly like the American House of Representatives; and the House of Lords (the Upper House) which, again, is similar but not exactly like the American Senate.
A "minister" is any elected member of parliament that holds a government post. They are divided into two: Senior Ministers (Secretaries of State), which make up the Cabinet and other important non-cabinet positions, like the Attorney General; and Junior ministers (Ministers of State, Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State), which hold other offices.
The Rt. Hon. Jim Hacker starts of the series as a Minister of State ( in _Yes, Minister),_ but eventually moves up to being the Prime Minister (in _Yes, Prime Minister)._
Bernard is the PM’s private secretary. Humphrey is head of the civil service, the other guy is the civil service head of the Foreign Office (deals with the U.K. foreign affairs) and reports to Humphrey.
Connar, your question: “What is a ‘Backbench’ MP?”. In the British Parliament, we have a ‘Frontbench’ of MP’s who are Government Ministers, ‘elected’ to the House of Commons, and ‘appointed’ to the House of Lords.
Government Ministers, make ‘political decisions’ and lead the ‘policy making’ of the political offices of state. They are the ‘Executive Ministers of State’, Chancellor of the Exchequer (Chief Finance Minister), Foreign Secretary, Minister of Defence, Health& Social Welfare Secretary, etc.
‘Backbench’ MP’s are all other MP’s, ‘elected’ to the House of Commons, and ‘appointed’ to the House of Lords. That have no ‘ministerial’ responsibilities. They sit behind the ‘Frontbench’ of MP’s who are Government Ministers, in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords.
This system is ‘mirrored’ with the Official Opposition party (today the Labour Party), the ‘Government in Waiting’ having it’s own ‘Shadow Ministers’ to those of the Government (today the Conservative Party).
That are the ‘Shadow Executive Ministers of State’: Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (Shadow Chief Finance Minister), Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Minister of Defence, Shadow Health& Social Welfare Secretary, etc.
This system is ‘mirrored’ with the Official Opposition party ‘Backbench’ MP’s who are all ‘political opposition party’ MP’s, ‘elected’ to the House of Commons, and ‘appointed’ to the House of Lords. That have no ‘ministerial’ responsibilities. They sit behind the Official Opposition ‘Frontbench’ of MP’s who are ‘Shadow Executive Ministers of State’, in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords.
Frontbench’ MP’s have ‘ministerial’ responsibilities, and direct ‘policy making powers’. ‘Backbench’ MP’s have none. Neither do the Shadow Ministers of the Official Opposition party. Government Ministers, have such powers.
Same in other Westminster democracies like Canada, Australia, NZ etc.
@Silver Fox Yes there are 'Frontbench' and 'Backbench' peers. The 'Frontbench' peers represent the elected Government, and are 'appointed' by Government to oversee the review and passage of Government legislation through the House of Lords. Like wise, the Office Opposition, has a 'Frontbench' team, to oversee and review the legislation in the House of Lords.
The House of Lords 'Backbenchers' are all appointed by a Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, to a peerage.
The House of Commons 'creates' legislation. The House of Lords 'reviews' it for potential problems and legality.
There are two main parts to government in the uk, the houses of commons and lords. The commons is filled with MPs representing each constituency. The party with most MPs gets to nominate one if their own to become Prime minister (PM). The PM then chooses MPs from their party to fill in the cabinet jobs (health, education...) and come up with laws. It would be like Biden sitting in Congress and choosing congressmen to fill in his presidential staff. The cabinet and pm come up with laws which are then voted for by the house if commons. If they have a majority of MPs then they in theory don't need to worry about getting the opposition parties support, but even then there may be non cabinet MPs (backbenchers, since they don't sit in cabinet seats in the front row), who rebel and vote against the party, hence the pm always being worried about them.
The house of lords is like the senate, except is rare for them to throw out any motion handed to them. Normally they send it back to the commons and tell them to amend the bill. Also they are unelected, often being scientists, former high ranking politicians, businessmen, priests and activists.
The House of Lords cannot throw out any Bill save one. If after several attempts, a Bill is still blocked by the HOL, the Commons can invoke a special rule which has the effect of short-circuiting normal procedure but the Bill must have been part of the Government's election manifesto. The one Bill the HOL can throw out is a Bill that extends the life of a Parliament for more than 5 years.
Cabinet ministers can come from the house of Lords as well, they don't have to be MPs, for example Lord Carrington was in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet as Foreign Secretary.
Another Winner ! thank you 🤗. I admire your quest for information regarding other countries….speaks of intelligence and empathy - admirable 👏🏻
The most relevant writing ever! More so today than even then. Thanks for reacting to them Connor
Glad you're enjoying it - it's an amazing series that still holds true today. Worth watching some full episodes rather than just clips though 👍👍
Absolutely applies to current UK policy towards Ukraine......simply brilliant show
Yeah, Except a couple of thousand Anti-tank missiles And a 7 year on going training programme for their army. To mention a couple of things.
But sure other than that nothing. 🤔🙄
@@Markus117d Well that training programme went well didnt it !
@@highpath4776 Compared with what, The way Ukraine's forces were back a decade ago or how they are doing against Russia's forces?? Either would be a massive complement to be truthful. Back a decade ago they had spirit but no so much in the way of modern professional training. And if Britain helped even slightly in this regard then it was worth it, Secondly how they are doing against Russia's forces right now is awesome, Not many people gave them a chance of lasting 4 or 5 days let alone how well they are continuing to hold out, The difference between Ukraine's forces and Russia's is plain to see.. 🇺🇦🌻
The final 40 seconds of this from 5:15 are as uncomfortably up to date now as when this first went out 40 years ago. Oh for a return of clever, intelligent comedy writing like this. Priceless!
Each department of the Civil Service has a Permanent Secretary, so called, because, unlike elected officials, they permanently hold their position. This is where we have the concept of 'continuity of office', so the officials remain the same, while the elected rotate.
It's a hard system to explain to an American because when you have a change of president the entire administration changes, politicians and officials.
In this case, 'Humpy', as he's sometime called, is the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs (fictional) while the other chap is the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office (actual).
** slight correction - in Yes Minister, Humphrey is the Permanent Secretary, while in Yes, Prime Minister his is the Cabinet Secretary.
The other thing that's useful to know is that Foreign Office has generally attracted the best recruits and, historically, from 'pukkah' backgrounds, hence, why in this case, the actor cast is a very 'fruity' type ie. posh. Actually an excellent performance by Ronald Pickering.
There's another scene that follows off this in a very packed train sleeping berth with two secretaries of state (ie. Minister level - elected), two permanent secretaries (Humpy and the large actor - John Savident), one private secretary AND a press officer.
ruclips.net/video/ACDIetpeoxE/видео.html
That scene in the train is hilarious, as is the whole show. Some of my favs are when PM talks to Humpy about British newspapers, and then Bernard comes in at the end, with his comment about The Sun newspapers.
@@kitty6720 I think my absolute funniest scene was when the prime minister gets the nuclear launch codes/device and they explain it to him
As others have probably pointed out, this clip is from the earlier series (Yes Minister) where Jim Hacker was only a minister. He bacame prime minister in the final series and it was renamed Yes Prime Minister.
For anyone who was wondering, the Isle of Wight is about 3 miles off the southern coast of England. If you can't find that, you can't find anything.
Cabinet = the government's inner team. The heads of each department. Backbench = MPs not in the cabinet or shadow cabinet, so named because they generally occupy the back benches of the Hous of Commons. There's a tradition for backbenchers to make life difficult for the government (even if they belong to the same party.) The PM is who you originally thought he was. He wasn't in this scene. He's the guy in the big office with the massive desk, James Hacker.
I always thought this show was wonderful for so many reasons.. It is entirely relevant even today, the truth can be brutal and funny..
Also, because it was filmed on stage, the dialogue is continuous, as any stage show and I think the actors are incredible.. unlike film acting where someone might say one line then the director shouts "cut!" and everything stops for a while to set the next line up, heavily produced, heavily edited ..
This is theatre, darling ! 😉😄
Not quite. As with all BBC sit-coms of the era, it was shot in a studio at Television Centre before an audience. Yes, it was recorded in real time with a five camera set-up, but there would be brief breaks as cast and cameras would be repositioned across the different sets. Undoubtedly though, each of the actors had cut their teeth in the theatre.
Turns out "Yes, Prime Minister" is indeed television, darling ! 😉😄
nearly 40 years on and still soo relevant and on point
In British parliament, there are benches on two opposing sides of the chamber. The ministers and senior members sit on the front benches while the junior members (who wield very little real power) sit on the back benches.
The prime minister is not in this scene, this is 2 higher ranking and more experienced civil servants explaining their actions to an up and coming civil servant. The man you thought was the PM is in the ministry of defence.
I believe he's actually the Foreign Secretary.
@@michaelmclachlan1650 the foreign secretary is a cabinet role and would have to be an MP, but he could well be the head civil servant in the foreign office and I have just misremembered the department.
@@ozloduffwmu My pardon, you're right; definitely not the Foreign Secretary. The gentleman in question would be, I think, the Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service - current title. Sir Humphrey seems to regard him as an equal so I may have finally got it right.
@@michaelmclachlan1650 that is Sir Frank. He along with Humphrey are the defacto joint heads of the civil service. Frank as Secretary to the Ministry of Finance ( known as the ex-chequer) controls the £ used by the govt. Humphrey controls policy. Neither can function with out the other . not to ruin the story but the Israeli ambassador did provide an invaluble service to the PM as of course their MOSSAD intelligence service is far more informed about UK military status than the ministers in HRH government. Advised as they are by the civil service.
@@Ozzy_2014 Thanks for the correction. I've always loved the series but it's some time since I've watched them extensively.
I was watching this show on PBS way back when I was a teenager. "Who reads the papers" is probably the best scene of the entire lot.
To analogise to the American context. Ministers are appointed only from the members of parliament (mostly from the commons which is equivalent of congress, but sometimes from the House of Lords which is somewhat analogous to the senate). Ministers function somewhat like US secretaries of …. Except appointed out of the more limited pool of elected members, not from whomever the leader (Prime Minister/President) chooses. Back benchers are just the elected members of the parliament not chosen to be a minister. This comes from that minister sit in the from rows of parliament, so those not ministers sit on the back benches behind them.
Since Canada has British Parliamentary system, I suppose it's the same. "MP" means "Member of Parliament." MPs are what you call "representatives" in USA. The party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons, and thus that has the most MPs, is called to form the government. The leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister, and he chooses MPs of his party to form his Cabinet. Those MPs become ministers, similar to the department secretaries of USA, with the difference that they are elected MPs. Separation of Legislative and Executive powers is not complete in the Parliamentary system. The Prime Minister will name two other MPs as House Leader (who oversees parliamentary procedures) and the other as Whip, whose role is to maintain party discipline. The other party leaders will do the same and form a "shadow cabinet". The Prime Minister, the ministers, Whip and leader will sit on the front bench at the Speaker's right, while the Opposition cabinet will do the same on the other side. All the other MPs sitting behind them are called "backbenchers." Their role is mainly to vote as their caucus decides. If a MP diverges from the party line, that's when the Whip acts... The legitimacy of the government lies on the confidence of the House. If it loses confidence, the government will have to step down. Certain votes (like budget adoption) are de facto confidence votes. So the MPs need to maintain the party line to prevent the fall of the government (or provoke it if they are in the Opposition).
Nothing you said is wrong, but one interesting thing with the Government Whips is that they all have historic titles. The Chief Whip (who also sits in Cabinet despite not running a department) is the "Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury", with Deputy Whips being "Treasurer/Comptroller/Vice-Chamberlain of HM's Household".
The Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords (British equivalent of your Senate) is the "Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentleman-at-Arms".
Most of the time these titles are just formalities, but they do come with a few extra little responsibilities. For example when Parliament sends a message to the Queen (usually called a Humble Address) it is one of the Deputy Whips who will physically deliver it to Her as the technically work for Her Household.
@@DylanSargesson Very interesting, thank you. In Canada, the Chief Whip is often attributed a ministry without portfolio or named Minister of State (junior minister) to a senior minister. The minister responsible of the Treasury is called "President of the Treasury Board" and is a senior minister of his own. Some say he's the minister whose role is to say "no" to other ministers who want money...
The government and their shadow counterparts are referred to, from the literal configuration, as "the front benches" and thus all other, less high profile, MPs are backbenchers. The term is sometimes used to remind people that an MP was formerly part of their party's leadership. As a historical note, the distance between the front benches is 2.5 standard blade lengths, to prevent instant physical engagement.
I think it is most essential to watch this series from the pilot episode, which became series one episode one.
It begins with Jim Hacker retaining his seat in parliament as an MP at a general election and then sitting nervously at home waiting and hoping for his party leader, the new Prime Minister, to phone him and offer him a department of state to run, that is the job of a Cabinet minister. This eventually happens and Hacker is seen arriving from his constituency in London by train and being whisked off in his ministerial car to the fictional department of administrative affairs in the company of Bernard. Bernard introduces him to Sir Humphrey who Hacker says he grilled in a committee meeting quite recently when Sir Humphrey answered all his questions. Sir Humphrey blandly smiles and says “I’m glad you thought so, minister“.
And so the whole gloriously educational process starts ……
It seems odd to be replying to myself, but I think it should be pointed out that in ‘Yes Minister’ Jim Hacker is appointed by the prime minister to be a member of his cabinet and that we NEVER ever see him - or her. These programmes were made in the time of Margaret Thatcher as PM so there must be no suggestion that the fictional PM is ‘really’ her. Obviously in ‘Yes Prime Minister’ Jim was the PM. The senior civil servant with Sir Humphrey here is his counterpart at the Foreign Office, the Permanent Secretary.
Front bench are the cabinet; Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Health Secretary etc. Back benchers are Members of Parliament that don't have one of those top jobs.
Bernard is a Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, he basically keeps the PM’s diary.
1:12 Bernard just answered your question perfectly haha
A back bench MP is one of the MPs that sit on the back benches, A cabinet minister is a minister that is part of the cabinet.
Even yet you don't seem to have grasped the fact that you have to know whether you are watching a clip from "Yes, Minister" or "Yes Prime Minister." If it's the former, Jim Hacker is an MP who is promoted to be minister for administrative affairs (a fictional government department) and Sir Humphrey is the apolitical civil servant whose job it is to implement the minister's policies. Although the prime minister is mentioned, he never appears and we don't know who he is.
If you are watching "Yes Prime Minister", then Jim had been promoted to be Prime Minister, largely by the machinations of Sir Humphrey who by this time is Chief Secretary to the Cabinet, in other words head of the whole civil service.. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You won't have any idea what's going on unless you watch full episodes.
Never grows old, never stales, never irrelevant.
The cabinet is the main executive body in the UK, it consists mostly of heads of various government departments. It's functionally very similar to the US cabinet, but the main difference is in the UK cabinet ministers are generally chosen from amongst the governing party's MPs in the House of Commons.
Backbenchers are MPs who don't have a government role, they are so called because they sit on the back benches in the House of Commons. (Government ministers sit on the front benches.)
Currently known as the Cabinet of Fools. A quip I make not for party political reasons, but because there seldom has been such a collection of mediocrities and nonentities gathered around one table. Very much how Boris wants it, because he can't abide anyone telling him how to do his job when he's perfectly capable of screwing it up all on his own.
You need to watch the first ever episedwhen Jim Hacker becomes a minister... And then somewhere 2 series later in a Christmas special when he then becomes the prime minister. The show also is actually two shows... Yes minister and yes prime minister, linked by that Christmas special.
It's about time you worked out who is who. All three in this episode are Civil Servants. It's not hard !
MP is like your congress man, back bench MP is a junior or new MP. Cabinate minister is like your secretary of defence or something
you may like Extras , a 2005 series by Ricky Gervais. It has British local heroes clash with American Celebrities in Britain :) Love the Daniel Radcliffe episode especially.
Very pertinent clip given the current world situation
To answer the question simply. Cabinet ministers are MP's of the leading party, given certain positions like Treasury, Foreign Office, etc. i.e. head of the Ministries. They meet every so often in "the cabinet" which is basically a fancy government council meeting.
Back Bench MP's are basically everyone else in the leading political party who doesn't have a ministerial position.
As for the PM, that is the other guy. between seasons 1 & 2? he gets promoted to Prime Minister due to some convoluted circumstances.
Cabinet Minister equivalent in the USA would be a head of an executive branch department, e.g. the Secretary of State, and the Cabinet as a whole consists of all the heads of these departments. A "back bencher" is an elected member of Parliament who isn't a Minister (elected but who doesn't have a job with the executive, like a Congressman). In the UK MPs are chosen by the Prime Minister to fill executive positions (some members of the House of Lords also fill these positions). Unlike the US there are no confirmation hearings.
A backbencher is a member of parliment who isn't part of either the Ruling party or the opposition. A cabinet minister is a member of Parliament who is part of the ruling party with a job in government like minister for education or chancellor of the exchequer
Cabinet is a small group of senior Ministers, the inner circle, along with the Prime Minister, charged with making the most important operational decisions of government. It will always include the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Treasurer), the Foreign Minister (what in the US is Secretary of State), Ministers for Home Affairs (a very large portfolio), Defence, probably Health (nationalised medicine has a huge budget), and the Attorney General. Technically, as the convention has it in a constitutional monarchy, the Cabinet advises the Queen on HER decisions in running HER Kingdom. This is, in fact, just a theatrical convention: the Queen "makes" whatever decision her Prime Minister and Cabinet make for her, and will only find out about such decisions after the fact. In practice, the Queen, of course, is always fully briefed on the general policies of her government.
Less senior Ministers, with portfolois of lesser importance, like the Minister for Sport, perhaps a Minister for Sustainability (if there is one) etc.are not in the Cabinet. They are Ministers of the Crown, with powers granted to them by legislation in their area of responsibility, but they are not necessarily privy to the discussions of Cabinet.
A back-bencher is simply a member of parliament not in the Ministry, which is most of them. In the Westminster system, the Executive branch of government, the Ministry, is comprised of a subset of the Legislative branch. To be made a Minister of the Crown, with executive power, one must first be elected to the Parliament. By convention, Ministers and their counterparts in Her Majesty's loyal opposition sit on the front benches of either side of the House, facing one another, while non-Ministers sit behind them, on the back benches. One among them, usually on the government side, is elected Speaker by the House. They sit in the middle and formally preside over debate.
Back bench MPs are elected members of Parliament who do not have a specific named government position. Cabinet minsters are chosen by the Prime Minister and are members of the government with particular areas of responsibilty, eg education, health, foreign affairs and so forth. Quite often cabinet ministers are given their jobs based on loyalty and/or biddability rather than competence or suitability.
Its not been pointed out that Backbenchers are important in the formation of informal committees or interest groups (even say the cross party wine tasting group or whatever), are needed by the Government to actually vote to pass a bill or motion (unless it is unopposed), and also comprise some membership of various formal committees (eg the Transport Select Committee - even the Chair may be a backbencher not the minister ) including reading through some bills and sections and advising on them. Sometimes the whole house is the committee for the committee stage of a bill's progress (mainly the Finance Act/s)
In most democracies, "MP" typically stands for "Member of Parliament." The parliament along with the government including the Prime Minister is elected by the citizens. In my country, the Prime Minister is usually the leader of the strongest political party, but this can change if necessary. Our President officially acknowledges the results of the election and primarily invites the winning party to form the government where a specific timeframe is given for this process. If negotiations fail or the winning party is unable to form a government, the President may invite other parties or individuals with the potential to create a new government to do so.
The core joke in this whole series is how it’s the civil servants (unelected senior administrators working for the government) who really run the country, not the elected officials. In the Uk, the administrations don’t change with election, it’s always the same people, only the elected officials change.
One of their best scenes
A backbench MP is a member of Parliament that does not have a Cabinet post. He is a regular MP. A cabinet Minister is an MP with a Ministerial Position. He/she heads a Government department like an American Cabinet Secretary like the Secretary of Transport or Secretary of Defence. Cabinet members are not members of the elected bodies like the Senate or The house of Representatives in The USA but they are Members of the House of Commons in The UK.
The UK has a cabinet system of government. A bit like a company board. The Prime Minister chairs cabinet meetings and government policy is debated and voted on in cabinet. The PM appoints ministers from his MPs. The back benches are MPs who are not appointed as ministers or opposition MPs who are not shadow ministers. Ministers and shadow ministers sit on the front bench in the house of Commons either side of the despatch box. The government front bench is called The Treasury Bench. Back bench MPs sit behind in the rows behind the front bench. And, then there is the House of Lords. there are ministers in the House of Lords who lead the debates in that chamber but they are unelected peers (Lords, Ladies, Barons, etc). Most are now working life peers i.e. put into the House of Lords by party leaders.
Bernard is the Prime Minister's Principle Private Secretary, who runs his official diary and acts as his 'gatekeeper'. He is a fairly senior civil servant
pardon my correction, but you mean the PRINCIPAL private secretary.
In America the President personally appoints his cabinet ie. Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State. In the UK the Prime Minister (PM) selects his cabinet from elected Members of Parliament of his party who are the equivalent of Congressmen and occasionally members of the House of Lords who are sort of like Senators (except they are appointed not elected). Cabinet Ministers are called Front Benchers as they seat on the front bench seats in the House of Commons alongside the PM. Ordinary MP’s are backbenchers. The main opposition party also has the equivalent called a shadow cabinet they don’t have any power or run the departments although they are sometimes briefed in a national emergency.
Interestingly unlike the Office of The President of the United States, the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom evolved over time, many of the current responsibilities came during the reign of George I, he couldn't speak any English at all so Sir Robert Walpole gradually assumed more and more powers over the running of the government and the state, he's basically considered to be Britain's first Prime Minister, the main staircase in number 10 has a portrait of every PM his is the first one up to Teresa May (Boris won't be added until he leaves office!🤣) Also the PMs official title is First Lord of The Treasury as can be seen written on the letter box on the door of 10 Downing Street! 👍
I could never work out why First Lord of The Treasury was not the Same as Chancellor of the Exchequer. (and why the country house of the PM is Chequers and why the PM or President of Germany is the Chancellor).
MPs equate to Congressmen, the backbenchers are the MPs that do not hold Ministerial office in the government, they just represent their constituents in Parliament and have no portfolio in a government department, e.g Defence or Foreign Office
Cabinet minister = Any minister who serves in the Cabinet, which is the name given to the group of the high-level ministers (20-ish). Basically the government.
Backbench MP = Any MP who isn't on the payroll of the government.
Also, Jim Hacker is the Prime Minister. In Yes, Minister (which takes place before this), he's the Minister for Administrative Affairs (a made-up position for the show). But in this, Yes, Prime Minister, he's the PM. Top dog.
... and not forgetting the Under Secretaries of State, the junior ministers who support the Minister but are not part of the Cabinet.
Absolutely amazing.
An MP is the representative of a constituency (area of the UK) which is the elected representative in parliament who votes in parliament. One of those representatives becomes the prime minister, the prime minister is the leader of the party with the most constituency representatives in parliament (you in fact never vote for the prime minister here, you vote for the MP which in turn leads to the MP's party leader becoming prime minister, most people because of this vote for the MP who's leader is the person they want as prime minister, and don't realise that there will be significant local changes due to the MP they elect, and later regret it as a result). There are 650 MP's in parliament, of those 650 MP's over 100 will be given ministerial positions (the ministers and cabinet ministers), these are the MP's with official jobs in government beyond their seat in parliament (minister of defense for example). Cabinet ministers are the senior ministers in government who along with the prime minister attend cabinet meetings, in which they decide on government policy, this is decided by the prime minister and usually consists of a little over 20 MP's (21 paid is the maximum). Over 100 MP's for the party without the majority (the opposition), become Shadow ministers, these are the people who challenge the ministers, and say what they would do in the ministers place in order to give a more balanced argument when making decisions. Those who don't hold a ministerial or shadow ministerial position are known as Backbench MP's (the MP's who gain ministerial positions typically sit closer to the prime minister in Parliament, who sits at the front center of his/her side of the house of commons, therefore as you move further back you eventually reach the MP's without a ministerial position, hence the nick name back benchers).
This is a thinly disguised reference to the Invasion of Grenada by the US - Mr Thatcher (knew) but did not tell the Queen who was (is) the head of state of Grenada. I visited Grenanda some one year later while the US forces were still there - And met an officer on the beach who told me his job was 'Moral Education Officer' to stop Grenada getting economic help from Cuba!
A back bench MP sits further back in the House of Commons. They don’t have a cabinet job. They don’t go to cabinet meetings. Cabinet jobs are the top jobs handed out like “Foreign Secretary” or “Health Secretary”.
The cabinet means the same as in the US. Members of the cabinet are cabinet ministers. MPs who aren't ministers are back benchers because ministers sit on the front bench in Parliament.
Cabinet ministers are the same as Secretaries of State. Back-bench MP's are the same as Senators, they don't really have any responsibilities apart from voting through bills. They ae called 'back-benchers' because they have to sit at the back in the Houses of Parliament, all the important politicians sit in the front.
This comedy shows the difference between the Civil service and politions,and the civil service actually runs the Government and Great Britain 😃😃😃
Such a wonderful collection of characters in this show but Humphrey sure does steal every scene he’s in!
Totally agree. They don't give out theatrical knighthoods for nothing. RIP Sir Nigel.
Cabinet ministers is like a government minister. Like the secretary of defense in America. A backbencher is like a junior congressman in America. Oe senator. ( government or senior opposition or minority is front bench) like in America, nacy Pelosi, chuck Schumer, mitch McConnell are front bench) presidents and prime ministers have cabinets. ( named after a room ) like a small board room , all the department heads of government meet regularly to coordinate or report and receive orders .
Backbench MP's or backbenchers are normal members of parliment (they happen to sit on the benches at the back hence the name). Then to run the country the PM will pick his favourite people to form the cabinet who make all of the decisions, they are usually called a secretary of state for something important eg. education, pensions, foreign affairs, defence etc.
Paul Eddington (brilliantly) plays the prime minister.
I suggest ‘citizen Khan’ as a reaction video. It is absolutely hilarious! Also ‘upstart crow’, ‘Peter Kay misheard lyrics’, ‘keeping up apperances’
The Cabinet is made up of a selected MPs who are given special roles in Government, a backbench MP is one who is not given any special role, they are from the political party with the majority of members. They can be seen as being somewhat of a threat to the Government as it can be in their hands the downfall of Government. People from opposition parties are expected to oppose. If backbench MPs revolt they can stop legislation going through.
Hi Catherine. Backbenchers are not just "from the political party with the majority of members" but a backbencher is a member of parliament or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file".
A "back bench MP" (Member of Parliament) is the Commonwealth version of a US Congressman as they are not given a position in the Executive Branch
"Back bencher" is a perjoritive in politics implying you sit in the back row in the House because you don't have a Cabinet position or a position in the Executive.
Cabinet Minister is the commonwealth version of a US Cabinet official lilke the US Secretary of State
Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are sheer perfection. They are as relevant today as when they were filmed in the 1980s. Sadly that is a reflection on how governments change, but the civil servants like Sir Humphrey remain the same. Bernard Wooley, the Prime Minister's Principal Private Secretary is a bit like us, looking on with incredulity at ut all, as he trues to make sense of why thinhs never get done.
Back bench members of parliament are junior mps who are not minsters of state. The latter sit on the front bench. Bernard is the secretary to the prime minister cabinet office. All in this sketch are civil servants not elected members of parliament
A back bencher MP is someone who sits on the benches at the back towards the walls and so have little authority or influence in the party otherwise they would be sitting further forward and closer to the centre of the room. MPs who have been given responsibility to govern a governmental department are called ministers. The most important ministers get together for meetings in a room that is known as the cabinet, so a cabinet minister is a very important minister who gets a permanent seat at the table for these meetings. The USA also has its own cabinet body and cabinet room in the white house which fundamentally does the same job as the UK cabinet.
In the UK every government department is headed by a cabinet minister (a politician) who is responsible for policy and a permanent secretary (a civil servant / official) who's responsible for carrying out the policy (or obstructing it in reality). The boss of all cabinet ministers is the Prime Minister, while the boss of all the permanent secretaries is the cabinet secretary (Sir Humphrey). The whole premise of this comedy is to show the constant friction between the politicians and their civil servants. The third guy in this episode is meant to be the permanent secretary to the Foreign Office (like your State Dept).
A Cabinet Minister in the UK is like a 'Secretary' in the US eg. Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence, Commerce etc. The 'Cabinet' is the Government Leadership team - both are called "Cabinets' in the UK & US.
'Backbencher' is a junior member of Parliament with no senior Office. They sit at the back in Parliament - hence the name
A big difference between UK & US is Ministers in the UK can only be appointed from members of Parliament (Congress), they are not selected and appointed like Secretary's in the US.
Cabinet ministers are MPs picked by the Prime Minister for certain heads of departments ie. Foreign secretary, Health Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance). The Cabinet ministers all sit on the front most row of seats (or benches) in the House of Commons. Backbenchers are the other elected Members of Parliament who hold the constituency seat but are not a head of department.
The opposition party has a Shadow Cabinet formed by the leader of the opposition. They sit on the front bench of the opposition side.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the PM to head the various offices of state. Chancellor . Foreign office. Home office . Etc. Back benchers I explained on another of your videos
1. Back bench MP's are the members of the party that sit in parliament on benches behind the front benches, those on the front benches are the ministers.
On the opposite side of the house, the opposition parties are seated the same, with the front benches for the shadow government. A shadow government is the officially paid to oppose the government policies..
It is only the Leader of the Opposition (head of the second largest party) who receives remuneration. Otherwise, the opposition parties receive financial assistance known as 'Short' money to support research and limited opposition activities, but that is regarded to fall woefully short of the job required.
That guy is the prime minister's assistant. A civil service position. Civil servants are a permanent unelected bureaucracy.
Back bench MPs are elected members of Parliament who do not head up a government department and they do not sit on the front benches in the UK parliament chamber ("The House of Commons" - a little bit equivalent to your "Congress").
The heads of government departments - e.g. transport or health - are now called "secretaries" (as in the USA govt) but at the time this was made, they were ministers and departments were called "ministries" - e.g. Ministry of Defence.
Secretaries and executives of the government (Prime Minister etc) meet privately at the Prime Ministers residence - 10 Downing Street - at a weekly "Cabinet meeting" - thus they are "cabinet members". In the House of Commons, only cabinet members sit on the front benches.
The black art of 'democratic' government is very well shown in this show - sure, for comedic effect, but with a large amount of truth. You will see them use ways of speaking and ways of avoiding things that all politicains use. I can see you recognise echoes in this show of what you have seen of your own American politics.
We have been re-watching "The West Wing" and although it obviously relates to your US government and not the UK, there are a lot of similarities to "Yes Minister" in how they deal with different situations and in policy presentation to the public and press. Of course West Wing is a primarily a drama with only small touches of comedy - but they do overlap more than you might think.
The language and the comedy in this show is a lot more complex than in many other comedy shows, but it is well worth the effort because - even though it was made in the late 1980s - there is a lot of truth in how it portrays the art of government and, strange as it may seem, now and then it can help you make sense of current news events.
4:27 The Uk Parliment is a bit like your House of Representatives, except the Prime Minister (leader of the party with the most seats) appoints ministers, who lead government departments. They sit on the front bench in parliament, back bench MPs are elected MPs who aren’t ministers.
My favourite show in the world.
Cabinet Minister= Minister appointed on advice of Prime Minister
Jim Hacker is the PM - yes, you're right.
A PM (or President) has a 'Cabinet' of Secretary's Of State to look after each government department. These are usually limited to high level departments, with a good 20 odd junior ministers and under secretaries of small departments who are not considered part of the Cabinet per sé , but who are still technically Secretaries of State.
A senior Cabinet Minister is a Secretary Of State, such as Secretary Of Defence, Foreign Secretary, Health Secretary, etc.
And back-benchers are simply ordinary MPs with no junior or senior ministerial office. Just like any ordinary member of congress.
Basically, a backbench MP is a member of parliament who doesn't have a high position within the government or opposition. And a cabinet minister is a minister who is a member of cabinet (basically the government's inner circle), and who is in charge of an important portfolio. I think in America they would be called "secretary"?
I used to love Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, even when I was a kid with almost no understanding of what they were on about.
A cabinet minister is a secretary of state eg the secretary of transport. A back bencher is junior congress person. They would not be a minister or a senior member of a parliamentary committee.
So funny! And true to life! It was PM Margaret Thatchers favorite program!❤❤
The Prime Minister is also First Lord of the Treasury. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Second Lord of the Treasury.
Back benchers = the less important MPs, who just vote as they are told by the leaders of the parties.
Cabinet ministers = the rest of the ministers of the government, apart from the PM and possibly a couple of the most important ministers.
Back bench MPs are like the senate and cabinet ministers are like a president's administration. It's not an exact analogy but you get the gist. The cabinet ministers sit on the front bench and make the policies, but you can't get it enacted into law with the support of back bench MPs.
Now we know where the tories have taken their strategy from
Back bencher is a minor parliament member,(usualy a new member and young), cabinet minister is a minister i,think in the USA you call them secretary(of education,housing foreign office) ect
The Cabinet is the government. Senior members of the government attend meetings of the Cabinet. Cabinet government is fairly widespread practice meaning that government policy is adopted in a collegial manner entailing that government members are bound by collective responsibility. To be in the government mans to publicly be in support of its proposals. People who sit on the front bench are the government (or shadow Cabinet); people who sit on the rows behind the front bench are the back benchers who are not members of the government but might have other important roles (e.g. sit on or chair select committees). A back bencher might harbour the desire to become a minister so generally is loyal to the government.
The thick of it malcolm tucker you like him
You have to see the clip from this episode where the PM meets the Ambassador from Israel
Thatcher said this was the closest thing to the real thing.
Listen to this, you jerk!
Brian May lived next door
To a man with a troubled core
Yukan Fukov was his name
He had a past full of shame
(Chorus)
But he respected Domestos
And Humphrey the cushion, his closest
And Higgledy-Piggledy the fruit
They brought him comfort when he was mute
(Verse 2)
Yukan was a Polish man
Who fell on hard times, a tough hand
He took to drink and stole from stores
But in his heart, he wanted more
(Chorus)
He respected Domestos
And Humphrey the cushion, his closest
And Higgledy-Piggledy the fruit
They brought him comfort when he was mute
(Bridge)
Brian tried to help him out
Gave him food and drink, no doubt
But Yukan was a troubled soul
He couldn't seem to gain control
(Chorus)
But he respected Domestos
And Humphrey the cushion, his closest
And Higgledy-Piggledy the fruit
They brought him comfort when he was mute
(Outro)
In the end, Yukan passed away
Brian remembered him to this day
For his respect of simple things
Like Domestos and cushions with springs.
A backbencher is an MP (member of parliament) who doesn't hold office in government or on the opposition side.
Back Bench MP's are elected Members of Parliament (MP's). They don't have a senior role in Government but obviously vote in order to pass bills and can propose bills themselves. They do have the power to oust a Prime Minister (PM). Cabinet Ministers are MP's or rarely Members of the House of Lords (but if they are then they can't speak in the Commons) who are appointed to head Ministries such as the Treasury, Foreign Office , Home Office etc
This is so close you real life.