– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 July 1963.
Mr Woodrow Wyatt
, Bosworth
12:00,
4 July 1963
asked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to make the office of Deputy prime minister a permanent feature of the Constitution of Her Majesty's Government.
Mr Harold Macmillan
, Bromley
No, Sir.
Mr Woodrow Wyatt
, Bosworth
Does not the Prime Minister think that it might help him in two ways? First, he would be able to delegate permanently the answering of Questions, that he said in an interview in May he cannot bear doing himself? Secondly, might it not help him in his interesting struggle for survival, which we are all watching with such sympathy—because he would be able to fossilise one of his more dangerous rivals?
Mr Harold Macmillan
, Bromley
Having made his well-prepared supplementary, perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to make an equally well-prepared reply. In several Administrations over the last 20 years it has been the practice of the Prime Minister to appoint a senior member of the Government to act as Deputy prime minister. This helps in the efficient dispatch of Public Business. But it is not an appointment submitted to the Sovereign and in my view it should not be so.
Mr Frederick Bellenger
, Bassetlaw
Can the Prime Minister, at the same time, say whether the office of Prime Minister is a permanent feature of the constitution?
Mr Harold Macmillan
, Bromley
As the right hon. Gentleman knows, it became so for the first time, as a recognised one, at the time of King Edward VII.
Mr Woodrow Wyatt
, Bosworth
Would not the right hon. Gentleman care to expand his views on answering Questions, which he said he found so distasteful in the interview in May?
Mr Harold Macmillan
, Bromley
I did not say that I found them distasteful, but, like any form of public appearance, there is a certain amount of nervous strain. But I do my best.
Mr. H. Wilson:
We are all sure that the right hon. Gentleman does his best, and we all agree with him that the first time his office was mentioned in the Table of Precedence was in 1906, but just to get the record right, would it not be right to say that the first time the title of Prime Minister occurred was on Disraeli's signing of the Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, and that the first time it appeared statutorily was in the Chequers Act? Since he has made his historical statement, should not we get that on the record?
Mr Harold Macmillan
, Bromley
There are so many occasions on which I wish to differ from the right hon. Gentleman that I will certainly accept his historical reminiscences.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
Public Business is the main business of the day that follows questions, urgent questions and statements.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
