British Executive Council

**NOTE: This is an alternative to the First Farage Ministry where Britain uses the Swiss model of government except for the direct democracy.**

The Executive Council is the 7-member executive council that constitutes the government of Great Britain and serves as the collective head of state and government of Britain.

While the entire council is responsible for leading the federal administration of Britain, each councillor heads 1 of the 7 government departments. The position of President rotates among the 7 councillors on a yearly basis, with one year's Vice President of the Executive Council becoming the next year's President. The President will always be head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (foreign affairs).

## Contents

### Government departments

* Ministry of Justice was folded into the Home Office
* The Ministry of Defense was folded into the Home Office, work and responsibilities for relations with international partnerships, including NATO was moved to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office,
* Department of Energy and Climate Change merged with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to create Department of Energy and the Environment maintaining both of their roles and responsibilities. Food Trade responsibilities was moved to the Department for International Trade (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), Food Safety & Standards was moved to the Department of Health and Social Care.
* The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was abolished. Sport work & responsibilities was moved to Department for Health and Social Care. Culture work & responsibilities was moved to the Department for Education. Digital and Media work & responsibilities was moved to the Department for Infrastructure.
* Department for Work and Pensions was folded into the Treasury, with employment & work responsibilities (payments not included) moved to Department for Infrastructure.
* The Department for Infrastructure was created, this came from the merging of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The “super-department” would handle business, infrastructure and transport. Investment responsibilities were moved to The Treasury
* Department for International Trade merged into Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
* The Government Equalities Office was shut down, the 'Minister for Women and Equalities' role was abolished
* UK Export Finance is made into a government-owned business/organization
* Office of the Advocate General for Scotland and Offices of the Secretary of State for NI, Scotland & Wales are both scrapped

1. Cabinet Office
2. Department for Education and Culture
3. Department for Infrastructure (Department for Energy and the Environment and agriculture included)
4. Department for Health and Social Care (Health and Safety Executive goes here; Office for Veterans' Affairs included)
5. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
6. Home Office (Department for Immigration and Visas included)
7. Ministry of Justice
8. The Treasury (Department for Work and Welfare included)

## **Operation of the Federal Council**

Councillor are elected by the "magic formula", the 3 biggest parties getting 2 in, and the 4th biggest party getting 1.

### Presidency

Each year, 1 of the 7 Councillors is elected by the House of Commons as *President of Great Britain*. The House of Commons also elects a Vice President. By convention, the positions of President and Vice President rotate annually, each Councillor thus becoming Vice President and then President every 7 years while in office.

According to the British order of precedence, the President is the highest-ranking British official. He/She presides over Council meetings and carries out certain representative functions that, in other countries, are the business of a head of state. In urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, he is empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council. Apart from that, though, he is a first among equals, having no power above and beyond the other 6 Councillors.

The President is not the British head of state; this function is carried out by the Council as a whole, that is, in its entirety. However, it has recently become usual that the President acts and is recognized as head of state while conducting official visits abroad, as the Council (also by convention) does not leave the country as a whole. Visiting heads of state are received by the Federal Council as a whole.

### Council meetings

The Federal Council operates mainly through weekly meetings, which are held each Wednesday at the Federal Palace in Bern.,[10] the seat of the Swiss federal government.

Apart from the 7 Councillors, the following officials also attend the meetings:

* Federal Chancellor. As government chief of staff and head of the Chancellery, he participates in the discussion but has no vote in the Council's decisions. Nonetheless, his influential position is often referred to as that of an "8th Councillor".
* the Vice-Chancellor: Spokesman of the Council and conducts the weekly press briefing after the meeting.
* the Vice-Chancellor: Viktor Rossi who is in charge of the Federal Council sector within the Swiss Federal Chancellery.

After the meetings, the Councillors take lunch together. The Council also meets regularly in conclave to discuss important topics at length, and annually conducts what is colloquially referred to as its "field trip", a day trip to some attractions in the President's home canton. In that and other respects, the Council operates not unlike a board of directors of a major corporation.

### Decisions and responsibilities

Each Councillor heads a government department, much like the ministers in the governments of other countries. Colloquially and by the press, they are often referred to as ministers (e.g. the head of the DDPS as "minister of defence") even though no such post officially exists. However, as Council members, they are not only responsible for their own department, but also for the business of their colleagues' departments as well, and for the conduct of the government and the federal administration as a whole.

Decisions to be taken by the Council are always prepared by the responsible department. For example, a change in the salaries of government employees would be proposed to the council by the head of The Treasury, to whose department the Federal Office of Personnel belongs. Before a vote is taken at a Council meeting, though, all proposals are circulated in writing to the heads of departments, who commission the senior career officials of their department – the heads of the Federal Offices – to prepare a written response to offer criticism and suggestions. This is called the *co-report procedure*, designed to build a wide consensus ahead of a Council meeting.

To prepare for important decisions, an additional public consultation is sometimes conducted, to which the states, the political parties and major interest groups are invited, and in which all members of the public can participate. If a change in a statute is to be proposed to the Commons, this step is mandated by law. In such cases, the consultation procedure also serves to identify political concerns.

The decisions themselves are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the Councillors present at a meeting. However, the great majority of decisions are arrived at by consensus; even though lately there is said to be a trend towards more contentious discussions and close votes.

### Secrecy

The meetings of the Council are not open to the public, but the result of the votes taken are open to the public. The Council has always maintained that secrecy is necessary to arrive at consensus and to preserve the collegiality and political independence of the individual Councillors.

### Constitutional conventions

Due to the Council's unique nature as a voluntary grand coalition of political opponents, its operation is subject to numerous constitutional conventions. Most notable is the principle of collegiality; that is, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, even though they are often political opponents. In effect, they are expected to publicly support all decisions of the Council, even against their own personal opinion or that of their political party. In the eye of many observers, this convention has become rather strained after the 2003 elections (see below).

## **Election and composition**

### Election mode

The members of the Federal Council are elected for a term of 5 years by the House of Commons. Each officeholder is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes. Every adult British citizen is eligible, but in practice, only Members of Parliament or more rarely, members of state governments are nominated by the political parties and receive a substantial number of votes. The voting is conducted in several rounds, under a form of exhaustive ballot: in the first 2 rounds, anyone can enter their name; in subsequent rounds, the person receiving the fewest votes is removed from the race until 1 candidate gains an absolute majority.

Usually, the party which has a seat to fill presents 2 candidates with mainstream viewpoints to the House of Commons, which then chooses one. Once elected, Councillors remain members of their political parties, but hold no leading office with them. In fact, they usually maintain a certain political distance from the party leadership, because under the rules of collegiality, they will often have to publicly promote a Council decision which does not match the political conviction of their party (or of themselves).

### Resignation

Once elected for a 5-year-term, Councillors cannot be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence. Re-election is possible for an indefinite number of terms, and it has historically been extremely rare for Parliament not to re-elect a sitting Councillor. In practice, therefore, Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after 3 to 5 terms of office. They can be impeached by the British Parliament for willfully violating the Humble Petition and Advice (Constitution) or the national laws. A group of MP's can begin the process and must acknowledge the impeachment. If it's passed it goes to the Supreme Court and they must decide to declare the impeachment of the a councillor or not. If he's impeached Parliament must vote in a member of the party he was previously, to maintain the "magic formula"

## **Status of Executive Councillors**

### Councillors' lives

Unlike most senior members of government in other countries, the Councillors (except for the President and Vice-President) are not entitled to an official residence. Buckingham Palace houses living apartments for both the Federal Chancellor and President. Admiralty House houses living apartment for Vice-President. Mostly, they have chosen to rent apartments or hotel suites in Bern (at their own expense). However, they are entitled to use the Council's country estate, Chequers, for holidays.

While Councillors can draw on an Army security detail if they need personal protection (in particular during official events), it is more usual to encounter them without any escort at all in the streets, restaurants and tramways of London. Councillors are also entitled to a personal bailiff who accompanies them, in a colourful uniform, to official events.

The spouses of Councillors do not play an official part in the business of government, apart from accompanying the Councillors to official receptions.

### Councillors' salary

Federal councillors receive an annual salary of £158,754 per annum. The councillors previously pay tax on this income, however income tax was abolished.

Former councillors with at least 5 years of service receive a pension equivalent to half the salary of Council members in office. If a councillor leaves office for health reasons, he or she may receive this pension even if his or her length of service was less than 3 years. Councillors who leave their offices after less than 4 years may also receive a partial pension. After leaving office, "former federal councillors frequently pursue some other lucrative activity," but "their earnings, when added to the pension they receive as an ex-federal councillor, may not exceed the salary of a councillor in office, otherwise their pension is reduced accordingly."

Serving federal councillors "enjoy a certain number of special benefits, from free telephone contracts to a chauffeur-driven car for official business, a courtesy car for personal use or the use of federal planes and helicopters for official business trips. Each member of the Council also has the right to a first-class British travel (also in retirement). They are also given personal security, which is often very discreet."

### Immunity

Federal Councillors, enjoy absolute legal immunity for all statements made in their official capacity. Prosecution for crimes and misdemeanors that relate to the Councillors' official capacity requires the assent of the immunity commissions of the Parliament. In such cases, Parliament can also suspend the Councillor in office.

## **List of British presidents**

### List of changes in British Federal Council

* David Cameron-Voted in on 1 January 2012 and was subsequently vote President of the Council. Left on 31 December 2015-Resigned due to disagreements over Brexit. (Replaced by Theresa May)
* Nick Clegg-Voted in on 1 January 2012. Left on 31 December 2016-Resigned following the Brexit referendum (Replaced by Tim Farron)
* Nicola Sturgeon-Voted in on 1 January 2012. Left on 31 December 2017. SNP was no longer the 4 biggest parties which is needed for the "magic formula".