This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Politics of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Politics of the United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject Politics of the United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject Politics of the United KingdomPolitics of the United Kingdom articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hertfordshire, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.HertfordshireWikipedia:WikiProject HertfordshireTemplate:WikiProject HertfordshireHertfordshire articles
Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The whips, I'm told, have a lot of influence over junior ministerial appointments, because the Prime Minister is usually too busy playing musical chairs with the Cabinet and does not know many of the new MPs other than by sight. In practice a Prime Minister may well defer to recommendations like "I know X wants Y as his junior minister, but he's useless and disloyal. Z is quite good though and has done good service on the Select Committee on Paperclips, time he was made a Parliamentary Under-Secretary." I don't have a cite to hand, but did it not used to be said in the 1980s that in order for a backbencher to get promoted he needed his "MOT Certificate", standing in this case for "Mate of Tristan"?Paulturtle (talk) 06:19, 7 February 2018 (UTC)Reply