What the Cabinet Is and What It Does
The Cabinet is the team at the top of government. Who sits in it, and how well it works together, shapes everything a government can get done.
What the Cabinet is
The Cabinet is the group of the most senior ministers in the government, chaired by the Prime Minister. Most of its members are Secretaries of State, the ministers in charge of the big government departments such as the Treasury, the Home Office and the Foreign Office. It usually meets weekly while Parliament is sitting.
It is the place where the government's most important decisions are taken collectively and where the work of different departments is pulled together into a single direction.
What the Cabinet does
- Sets the overall direction of government policy and priorities.
- Coordinates across departments so policies do not pull against each other.
- Resolves big decisions that cut across more than one department or carry serious political weight.
- Carries collective responsibility: once a decision is made, ministers are expected to support it publicly, even if they argued against it in private.
Why appointments matter
A Prime Minister's power to appoint and move ministers is one of their most important levers. The right person in the right department can deliver a government's priorities; the wrong fit can stall them. Appointments also balance the party: bringing in different talents and viewpoints can strengthen a government, while leaving people out can store up trouble.
Two things tend to decide how well a cabinet performs: how well each minister suits their brief, and how well the team holds together. A cabinet of big names who do not work as a unit can achieve less than a well-matched, united one.
How this connects to the game
This is the heart of Downing Draft. You draft real politicians and place each into a role, and the game judges both the fit of each appointment and the overall cohesion of your cabinet. For a tour of the individual jobs, see the cabinet roles explained.