2004 Part 4, Dry Powder
“The Commonwealth of Britain usually operates under a presidential system, but when in cohabitation, this effectively changes, at least in terms of domestic policy, to a parliamentary system, in which the prime minister controls the legislative agenda and the president's powers are limited to foreign policy and defence.” - Taken from lecture by Richard Albert “The Fusion of Presidential and Parliamentarian”, University of Texas (2009)
Upon arriving at Buckingham Micheal Howard faced the first test of his presidency. Several controversial bills that had passed through Parliament and the Senate arrived on his desk for a signature. Most divisive for the Tory Party were the Gender Recognition Act and Civil Partnership Act. Two bills passed by the Brown government aimed at supporting LGBT rights. Social Conservatives such as Senator Anne Widdecombe were insistent the bill should not be allowed to pass. Whilst Howard personally supported the bills (it is debated whether he genuinely supported the expansion of trans rights or was trying to build a socially liberal image for the election.) Signing the bills through would risk an outcry in his party just weeks after he became President. If he vetoed the bill there was a high chance his veto would be overridden by the progressive majority Parliament and there would be uproar in the LGBT community and among younger people with whom the Bill was overwhelmingly popular. Howard had a choice: his first week would either be a Tory civil war or Parliament clipping it’s President’s wings. In the end Howard signed the bill.
Pro-Gender Recognition Act Protesters march through Westminster
Another bill on his desk was the “Higher Education Act” which would introduce tuition fees to the country, bringing in £3,000 charges for Universities. The Liberal Democrats were strongly opposed and vetoing it could pass through Parliament. Howard found the idea of being the saviour of the students amusing, but one of his main policy proposals was to balance the budget, vetoing the bill would not help. It was not the hill Howard wanted to die on.
Howard signs the Higher Education Act at a ceremony in Llanelli Boys' Grammar School
“I would describe Micheal’s approach in that first year as cautious. He didn’t want negative comparisons to Tony Blair and he didn’t want to create that nasty party image by taking a stand on issues such as civil partnerships if he was going to get overruled anyway. Our strategy was to keep the power dry for the 05 election and get ourselves a Conservative Prime Minister.” - Nicky Morgan speaking to the Channel 4 Documentary “Tory Wars” (2019)
Finally there was the issue of the European Commissioner. Whilst Howard would have loved to appoint a eurosceptic like William Hague or Liam Fox there wasn’t a majority for it, Gordon Brown was putting his foot down. He mused over nominating a Labour eurosceptic like Jack Straw or Former Vice President John Prescott to cause a bit of division but decided he’d rather have a europhile Tory then yet another Labour politician in a position of power, the Parliamentary Tories would tear him apart. He considered Oliver Letwin an easy way to get rid of an unpopular high profile Tory, but he doubted Oliver could get the support from Parliament. There was only one man who could get support from all the major parties. After days of negotiations Howard and Brown were agreed. After receiving over 500 votes in Parliament, Ken Clarke was going to Brussels.
“Howard had to juggle the eurosceptic nature of his party with the europhilic Parliament. Whilst Howard was certainly sympathetic to the euro-sceptic argument he was wary of getting dragged into another battle around Europe, a battle he knew Brown would win” - Britain and Europe, Nicholas Crowson (2010)
Commission Nominee Ken Clarke posing for a photo with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street
Meanwhile in Parliament Brown was trying to assert himself as the British leader. Whilst coming under increasing pressure from all sides. The victory of Howard had taken the wind out of Labour’s sails but it gave Brown a chance to assert himself and promote his allies now Blair was out of the picture. However there was a lot to attack him on. With the passage of the Higher Education Act the Liberal Democrats slammed Brown for “collaborating with the Tories to shaft students” as Shirley Williams put it. At the same time he was receiving heat from the right. Brown was criticised by the Conservatives for his tax credits scheme, research showed that the system had overpaid by nearly £2 billion. For the Conservatives this was a prime example of Brown’s over bloated and corrupt state.
Chancellor Andrew Smith defends tax credits in a rowdy session of Parliament
For Howard’s relatively mellow Presidency there was one major clash between President and Parliament, the Hunting Act of 2004. A bill favoured by left-wing and environmentalist MPs that Howard strongly opposed to. The first time Howard used his veto power. He was able to delay the Bill by four months in the hopes of a pro-hunting majority being elected in 2005, much to denouncement from animal rights groups. However the affair also strengthened Howard, he asserted himself as President and galvanised the Conservative base
“The British President has veto power but it is not as powerful as the American President. In the Commonwealth, the President can veto any act of Parliament and force an extra reading of the Bill, however after the extra reading it can be overturned by a simple majority in Parliament. It is less of a veto and more a delay power.” - Reform Processes and Policy Change Thomas König (2011)
BBC political editor Andrew Marr would look back on the cohabitation years as an "unprecedented" time in British Politics
How far do you agree with the statement “Howard was right to use his veto power sparingly during the early years of his Presidency” (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam (2019)
Upon arriving at Buckingham Micheal Howard faced the first test of his presidency. Several controversial bills that had passed through Parliament and the Senate arrived on his desk for a signature. Most divisive for the Tory Party were the Gender Recognition Act and Civil Partnership Act. Two bills passed by the Brown government aimed at supporting LGBT rights. Social Conservatives such as Senator Anne Widdecombe were insistent the bill should not be allowed to pass. Whilst Howard personally supported the bills (it is debated whether he genuinely supported the expansion of trans rights or was trying to build a socially liberal image for the election.) Signing the bills through would risk an outcry in his party just weeks after he became President. If he vetoed the bill there was a high chance his veto would be overridden by the progressive majority Parliament and there would be uproar in the LGBT community and among younger people with whom the Bill was overwhelmingly popular. Howard had a choice: his first week would either be a Tory civil war or Parliament clipping it’s President’s wings. In the end Howard signed the bill.
Pro-Gender Recognition Act Protesters march through Westminster
Another bill on his desk was the “Higher Education Act” which would introduce tuition fees to the country, bringing in £3,000 charges for Universities. The Liberal Democrats were strongly opposed and vetoing it could pass through Parliament. Howard found the idea of being the saviour of the students amusing, but one of his main policy proposals was to balance the budget, vetoing the bill would not help. It was not the hill Howard wanted to die on.
Howard signs the Higher Education Act at a ceremony in Llanelli Boys' Grammar School
“I would describe Micheal’s approach in that first year as cautious. He didn’t want negative comparisons to Tony Blair and he didn’t want to create that nasty party image by taking a stand on issues such as civil partnerships if he was going to get overruled anyway. Our strategy was to keep the power dry for the 05 election and get ourselves a Conservative Prime Minister.” - Nicky Morgan speaking to the Channel 4 Documentary “Tory Wars” (2019)
Finally there was the issue of the European Commissioner. Whilst Howard would have loved to appoint a eurosceptic like William Hague or Liam Fox there wasn’t a majority for it, Gordon Brown was putting his foot down. He mused over nominating a Labour eurosceptic like Jack Straw or Former Vice President John Prescott to cause a bit of division but decided he’d rather have a europhile Tory then yet another Labour politician in a position of power, the Parliamentary Tories would tear him apart. He considered Oliver Letwin an easy way to get rid of an unpopular high profile Tory, but he doubted Oliver could get the support from Parliament. There was only one man who could get support from all the major parties. After days of negotiations Howard and Brown were agreed. After receiving over 500 votes in Parliament, Ken Clarke was going to Brussels.
“Howard had to juggle the eurosceptic nature of his party with the europhilic Parliament. Whilst Howard was certainly sympathetic to the euro-sceptic argument he was wary of getting dragged into another battle around Europe, a battle he knew Brown would win” - Britain and Europe, Nicholas Crowson (2010)
Commission Nominee Ken Clarke posing for a photo with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street
Meanwhile in Parliament Brown was trying to assert himself as the British leader. Whilst coming under increasing pressure from all sides. The victory of Howard had taken the wind out of Labour’s sails but it gave Brown a chance to assert himself and promote his allies now Blair was out of the picture. However there was a lot to attack him on. With the passage of the Higher Education Act the Liberal Democrats slammed Brown for “collaborating with the Tories to shaft students” as Shirley Williams put it. At the same time he was receiving heat from the right. Brown was criticised by the Conservatives for his tax credits scheme, research showed that the system had overpaid by nearly £2 billion. For the Conservatives this was a prime example of Brown’s over bloated and corrupt state.
Chancellor Andrew Smith defends tax credits in a rowdy session of Parliament
For Howard’s relatively mellow Presidency there was one major clash between President and Parliament, the Hunting Act of 2004. A bill favoured by left-wing and environmentalist MPs that Howard strongly opposed to. The first time Howard used his veto power. He was able to delay the Bill by four months in the hopes of a pro-hunting majority being elected in 2005, much to denouncement from animal rights groups. However the affair also strengthened Howard, he asserted himself as President and galvanised the Conservative base
“The British President has veto power but it is not as powerful as the American President. In the Commonwealth, the President can veto any act of Parliament and force an extra reading of the Bill, however after the extra reading it can be overturned by a simple majority in Parliament. It is less of a veto and more a delay power.” - Reform Processes and Policy Change Thomas König (2011)
BBC political editor Andrew Marr would look back on the cohabitation years as an "unprecedented" time in British Politics
How far do you agree with the statement “Howard was right to use his veto power sparingly during the early years of his Presidency” (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam (2019)