Book contents
- The Impossible Office?
- Works by Anthony Seldon
- The Impossible Office?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 The Bookend Prime Ministers
- Chapter 2 A Country Transformed, 1721–2021
- Chapter 3 The Liminal Premiership
- Chapter 4 The Transformational Prime Ministers, 1806–2021
- Chapter 5 The Powers and Resources of the Prime Minister, 1721–2021
- Chapter 6 The Constraints on the Prime Minister, 1721–2021
- Chapter 7 The Eclipse of the Monarchy, 1660–2021
- Chapter 8 The Rise and Fall of the Foreign Secretary, 1782–2021
- Chapter 9 The Rise, and Rise, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1660–2021
- Chapter 10 The Impossible Office?
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 8 - The Rise and Fall of the Foreign Secretary, 1782–2021
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 April 2021
- The Impossible Office?
- Works by Anthony Seldon
- The Impossible Office?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 The Bookend Prime Ministers
- Chapter 2 A Country Transformed, 1721–2021
- Chapter 3 The Liminal Premiership
- Chapter 4 The Transformational Prime Ministers, 1806–2021
- Chapter 5 The Powers and Resources of the Prime Minister, 1721–2021
- Chapter 6 The Constraints on the Prime Minister, 1721–2021
- Chapter 7 The Eclipse of the Monarchy, 1660–2021
- Chapter 8 The Rise and Fall of the Foreign Secretary, 1782–2021
- Chapter 9 The Rise, and Rise, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1660–2021
- Chapter 10 The Impossible Office?
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
By 2021, the prime minister had emerged in undisputed control of foreign policy, taking over the powers initially from the monarch, then Parliament, then the Foreign Secretary. The prime minister decrees British foreign policy, whether the country goes to war, and how it is fought. This chapter will examine how and why this transition occurred, and why the prime minister today can afford to be more preoccupied with foreign rather than domestic policy, and what this has meant to the office and powers of the prime minister.
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- The Impossible Office?The History of the British Prime Minister, pp. 250 - 280Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021