The Red Budget Box

Not having access to daily news in the US means I’m not as in touch as I could be.  (Yes, I know I can get the news online, but it was much easier when got a daily paper and could turn on the evening news).  What did make headlines here recently is Congress’s inability to pass a budget and the subsequent “fiscal cliff.”  Doing a little digging online I’ve discovered that the Senate has not passed a budget since 2009.   In fact, they’ve only met the March 1st deadline four times in the last 30 years.[1] 

This topic only came to mind because today the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Cabinet Minister responsible for economic and financial matters) left Number 11 Downing Street holding up a small, red briefcase known as the Budget Box for a mass of waiting photographers.   In it was the annual budget statement to Parliament, whereby the government lays out how taxpayer money will be spent in the coming year.[2]   Here there is no party bickering on what funds are sacrosanct, nor are there debates or stalling tactics on the floor of the Commons.  (The snarky comments all come after the budget is read.)  In fact, the budget is not created by parliament at all. Instead the budget is the product of a select few:  the Chancellor, several high-level Treasury Ministers, and the Prime Minister.  The contents of the budget report are not discussed outside of this golden circle, its details being held in the strictest of confidence until Budget Day.   

When the time comes, the outline of the budget is presented first to the Queen.  By tradition, the Chancellor dines with her the night before as he briefs her on its contents.  Cabinet Ministers are next, by which time the budget is, according to Rodney Brazier, professor of constitutional law at Manchester University, “a fait accompli.”[3]  Ministers may ask for minor changes, but nothing more.  The Chancellor then addresses Parliament later that day.  If the country is unhappy with the way the government decides to spend their money, they can express it at the next election.

Two things are significant about that last statement and differ greatly from the US:  the concept of government and the electoral process.  

In US national elections, one votes for candidates representing two branches within the federal system – one's Congressional representative (legislative) and the president (executive).   As is often the case, the president and Congressional majority leaders are members of different parties.  In the UK, the Prime Minister is chosen not by popular vote, but is simply the leader of the party that wins the most seats in Parliament.  So the majority leader is then the leader of the country as a whole.  The winning leader then “forms a new government.”  You can hear this simply by terms used to describe political chronology:  the Reagan administration vs. the Thatcher government. It can also be used to describe the party in control i.e., the Labor government, the coalition government.

While elections in the US are held on a regular non-movable schedule, general elections in the UK are more flexible.  Elections must be called at least every five years  (the date of the next general election is tentatively scheduled for May 7, 2015); however, this is not set is stone.  Two things can happen to bring an early election:  a two-thirds vote in the House of Commons for an early election or a vote of no confidence.  The ruling party usually calls for an early election if things are going well and popularity is high.  After all, if your party is ahead in the polls, why not strike while the iron is hot?  Historically, this is usually done in year four of a particular government.  The vote of no confidence is complicated, but is generally a consensus that the current government is not working and parliament basically wants to start over. [4]  Once an election is called, whatever the reason, anyone can run for office provided they submit the appropriate forms and a £500 fee. [5]  And boy do they!  In the recent Eastleigh by-election (the former MP resigned after a scandal) the following parties were represented on the ballot: [6]   

Liberal Democrats – winner with 13,342 out of 41,616 votes

UK Independent - 11,571 votes

Conservative -10,559 votes

Labor - 4,088 votes

Independent -768 votes

National Health Action – 392 votes

Beer, Baccy and Crumpet Party – 235 votes

The Christian Party – 163 votes

Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party – 136 votes.  Don’t laugh, the Loony Party have actually won some county and town seats.

Peace Party – 128 votes

The Elvis Loves Pets Party – 72 votes

English Democrats – 70 votes

Trade Union and Socialist Coalition – 62 votes

Wessex Regionalists – 30 votes

Once registered, candidates usually have only four to six weeks to campaign.  That means no high-end fundraisers, no endless television ads, and, because all voting is local, no nationally televised debates.  Politics here seems to be on a more grassroots level, with your local MP being just that: local.  Whether it is or not remains to be seen.  In the meantime, I’m dying to know what’s in that red box.

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[1] Phil Roe (Rep. T-Tenn), “Congress must pass a budget,” The Hill’s Congressional Blog, (http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/277719-congress-must-pass-a-budget) 17 January 2013 [accessed 20 March 2013] and Suzy Kim, “Senate Democrats promise to pass a budget.  Why is this a big deal?,” The Washington Wonk Blog, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/ wp/2013/01/20/senate-democrats-promise-to-pass-a-budget/), 20 January 2013 [accessed 20 March 2013]

[2] “Guide to the Budget,” HM Treasury (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about_budget.htm)

[3] Rodney Brazier, Ministers of the Crown (Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1997), 151-152

[4] “Parliament and Government,” UK Parliament, http://www.parliament.uk/about

/how/role/parliament-government/, [accessed 20 March 2013].  This replaces the old system (changed in 2011) whereby the Prime Minister would simply ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament without the two-thirds vote.

[5] “Standing for Parliament,” UK Parliament, http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/elections/standing/ [accessed 20 March 2013].

[6] “Eastleigh 2013 by-election:  full results and charts,” The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/mar/01/eastleigh-byelection-results-2013#data [accessed 20 March 2013]