Payroll vote

{{Use British English|date=April 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}} The '''payroll vote''' is a term in the [[British Parliament|British parliamentary system]] for the group of [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] who concurrently hold positions in the executive government (eg, as ministers of the crown). It includes the Prime Minister, [[Minister (government)|Minister]]s and [[Parliamentary Private Secretary|Parliamentary Private Secretaries]] (PPSs), and typically would number between 100–150 MPs. Even though PPSs are unpaid, they are appointed, do support ministerial work in ministers' offices, and are widely regarded as being on the "first rung of the ministerial ladder".<ref name="a">{{cite book |title=Welfare policy under New Labour: views from inside Westminster |first= Hugh M. |last= Boche |author2=Andrew Defty |publisher=The Policy Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-86134-790-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NQI0Rt42qwC |location=Bristol |page=51 }} </ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Payroll vote |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/p-q/82587.stm |website=BBC |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref> There is a commonly-observed convention in the [[constitution of the United Kingdom|British constitution]] that all government ministers, including the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], be members of either the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] or the [[House of Lords]], although this is not always strictly observed.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Under the principle of [[Cabinet collective responsibility]], all ministers (even those not in the Cabinet) must publicly support the position of the Government. Any minister who wishes to vote against the Government in Parliament is obliged, at least by convention, to resign from her/his governmental office first. There is therefore a built-in bloc of reliable support for the Government on any given parliamentary vote in either house.

The size of this bloc is substantial and has been increasing over time, especially in the House of Commons, where most ministers sit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://whorunsbritain.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2013/11/03/the-rise-in-the-payroll-vote/|title=The rise in the payroll vote {{!}} Who Runs Britain?|access-date=2016-09-15}}</ref> Immediately after the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]], for example, there were 89 ministers and 51 parliamentary private secretaries sitting in the Commons, accounting for 40% of Labour Members of Parliament.<ref name="a"/>

However, the payroll vote is not always absolutely guaranteed to the Prime Minister. For example, in certain votes called in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] relating to [[Brexit]] during the week of 11 March 2019, certain cabinet MPs voted against the government position without being required to resign or even facing any public questioning from PM [[Theresa May]]. This loss of 'core' support weakened the authority of the government and its leader on that issue and more broadly.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payroll Vote}} [[Category:Parliament of the United Kingdom]]