Power of PM

• Dispensing honours - PM has the power to give out peerages, as long as they are approved by the House of Lords Appointment Commission (HOLAC)

  Tony Blair appointed the most peers - 374 - and was known for the 2007 Cash for Honours scandal, wherein several of his recommendations were rejected
• Appointing the Cabinet

  PM can choose who to appoint to their cabinet and often uses this to their advantage - ideologically diverse, as well as appointing outspoken members so that they would be constrained by collective responsibility
• Authority in the Cabinet system

  PM chairs cabinet meetings and controls what information is presented. They can steer and sum up Cabinet meetings, prioritising matters they find most important. They have the power to reshuffle the Cabinet, but ministers also have the power to refuse to change posts - Brown planned to make Ed Balls Chancellor, but Alastair Darling refused to move to another post
• Dictating policy priorities

  The PM can dictate policy priorities for their government, but they should be wary of policies that may undermine their judgement - Thatcher and Poll Tax, Blair and Iraq War - and ensure that they focus on what is considered important by Parliament and the public - Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to pay more attention to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism
• Party Leadership - need the support of their party before the rest of Parliament, as their success relies on party support for their majority to mean anything.

  Keir Starmer's 174 seat majority was able to withstand some MPs rebelling over the winter fuel payments cut