ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the way in which the Westminster convention of individual ministerial responsibility motivates ministers to morality, in both their personal behaviour and their departmental roles. The resignations of Tim Yeo, Gordon Brown, Carolyn Hughes and Rod Richards from the Major government were less a reflection of the seriousness of their indiscretions and more about their failure to live up to the standards of personal behaviour they and their colleagues publicly proclaimed, the government having made private morality a political issue. Where departmental fault is concerned, it is a rare minister who resigns at all. Indeed, it would seem that rather than being motivated to morality, ministers are motivated to distance themselves from any culpability and hence from the requirement of resignation. This has been most evident in the use of the policy/operations division. The problems surrounding the policy/operations division have been compounded by the distinction made by the UK government between 'responsibility' and 'accountability'.
