5.3.2 The cabinet

The Prime Minister appoints about 20 senior MPs to become ministers in charge of departments. These include:

Chancellor of the Exchequer – responsible for the economy Home Secretary – responsible for crime, policing and immigration Foreign Secretary – responsible for managing relationships with foreign countries other ministers (called ‘Secretaries of State’) responsible for subjects such as education, health and defence.

These ministers form the cabinet, a committee which usually meets weekly and makes important decisions about government policy. Many of these decisions have to be debated or approved by Parliament.

Each department also has a number of other ministers, called Ministers of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, who take charge of particular areas of the department’s work.