The Prime Minister is the leader of the political party that wins a general election. Their job is to lead the Government and come up with ideas about how to run the country. These ideas and plans are called policies. They then choose MPs to help run the Government, known as cabinet ministers. The cabinet is responsible for putting the PM’s policies into practice. They also meet with other leaders from countries and supranational bodies to discuss issues of global importance.
Prime Ministers must be able to manage the strong personalities and ambitions of their cabinet colleagues. This is difficult, especially when they are dealing with a caucus that includes members with different backgrounds and opinions. Prime Ministers also face questions from parliament during Question Time and must defend their decisions in select committees. They also need to ensure they have enough loyal members to pass key measures such as the annual King’s Speech and the budget. Ultimately, they must be able to guarantee the support of enough loyal MPs to survive a vote of no confidence.
To achieve this, prime ministers need to have a good understanding of all the policies in their portfolio. They need to be able to manage their ministers and to ensure they are delivering on the promises they made to voters at the last election. They must also be able to respond quickly to changes in the political landscape. They need to decide what to do if they lose control of their majority in parliament and must take into account how this will affect the long term prospects for their party.