Throughout my time in Cabinet I was conscious I tried the patience of the Prime Minister; from time to time it was made clear to me my job was at risk. The number of political staff was determined by the size of your budget, and appointments had to be approved by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister did not permit officials at Cabinet committee meetings, so ministers had to take responsibility for their own papers and argue for their proposals. The Prime Minister had invariably read all the papers, so often she was the key person you had to convince. The Prime Minister had a good sense of the public acceptability of a proposal.

Source: Stuff August 09, 2021 16:52 UTC