Who Runs the Country: PM, Cabinet, Parliament and the Monarch
“The government” is really several institutions that share and check each other's power. Here is who does what, and how no single part runs everything.
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister leads the government. They set its overall direction, chair the Cabinet, and appoint and dismiss ministers. But their authority is not unlimited: it rests on continuing to command the confidence of the House of Commons and the support of their own party.
The Cabinet and ministers
Ministers run the individual departments and take the day-to-day decisions within their areas. The most senior form the Cabinet, which decides the big questions collectively. Together, the Prime Minister and ministers make up the executive, the part of the state that actually governs.
Parliament
Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords) is separate from the government and holds it to account. Parliament makes and changes the law, examines and challenges government policy, and controls public money. Crucially, the elected Commons can withdraw its confidence from a government, which is the ultimate check. Ministers must answer to Parliament for what they do.
The monarch
The monarch is the head of state, a role that is constitutional and ceremonial rather than political. Formal acts (appointing the Prime Minister, opening Parliament, giving royal assent to new laws) are carried out on the advice of ministers, and the monarch remains politically neutral. In practice the monarch reigns; the elected government governs.
Power shared and constrained
The result is a system of shared and limited power. The government can act, but only with Parliament's backing; Parliament scrutinises, but does not run departments; the courts uphold the law; and, in their areas, the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exercise their own powers. No single institution controls everything.
How this connects to the game
Downing Draft puts you in the Prime Minister's seat, but the pressures you feel (needing public support, party loyalty and a cabinet that delivers) reflect exactly these real constraints. To see how those pressures pull against each other, read about political trade-offs.