The brace of the Cabinet: the legacy of Clement Attlee as deputy prime minister

Thornton, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8175-440X 2024. The brace of the Cabinet: the legacy of Clement Attlee as deputy prime minister. Contemporary British History 38 (3) , pp. 359-382. 10.1080/13619462.2024.2305459 Item availability restricted.

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 19 July 2025 due to copyright restrictions. Download (475kB)

Abstract

The position of the UK deputy prime minister is clouded in mystery. The title suggests a minster of some seniority, one likely to step in for an absent premier to chair a cabinet meeting or perform at prime minister’s questions (PMQs) – but that is merely supposition. No official statement exists to explain the functions the position entails or indeed to confirm that it endures as anything more substantial than a courtesy title. Using archive material and other resources, this article will try to expose this constitutional phantom. To achieve this task, there will be close examination of the first individual to be publicly announced – in February 1942 – as the UK’s deputy prime minister, Clement Attlee. Though there will be discussion of some of the tasks Attlee performed in this capacity (tasks which have influenced the development of deputy prime ministership as an institution), the primary purpose of this article is to help lift some of the constitutional smog. In particular, it will illuminate why – in contrast to analogous positions such as the US vice president – the British deputy prime minister is still not regarded as any more likely to succeed a prime minister than any other senior minister.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1361-9462
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 January 2024
Date of Acceptance:	19 January 2024
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 10:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/165665

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item