ABSTRACT
By the late nineteenth century, the United Kingdom ‘cabinet’ was the most senior committee in government: it comprised all the major portfolios and took all the major decisions. Cabinets have varied in size over the years but usually comprise up to two dozen ministers. During peacetime, cabinet contains the main ministers – chancellor, home secretary, foreign secretary, health, work and pensions. It also included are the more specialist jobs of leader of the House, chief whip and attorney-general, plus the occasional ‘all purpose’ archaic appointments like lord privy seal and lord president of the council, who often chair cabinet committees or perform specific tasks for the Prime Minister. The cabinet controls and coordinates the various government departments and provides a forum for the resolution of disputes between departments and between senior colleagues. Government business is so weighty that cabinet would be overwhelmed without cabinet committees and subcommittees playing major delegated roles.
