The Rise of the Novice Cabinet Minister? The Career Trajectories of Cabinet Ministers in British Government from Attlee to Cameron

Some commentators have observed that today's Cabinet ministers are younger and less experienced than their predecessors. To test this claim, we analyse the data for Labour and Conservative appointments to Cabinet since 1945. Although we find some evidence of a decline in average age and prior experience, it is less pronounced than for the party leaders. We then examine the data for junior ministerial appointments, which reveals that there is no trend towards youth and inexperience present lower down the hierarchy. Taking these findings together, we propose that public profile is correlated with ‘noviceness’; that is, the more prominent the role, the younger and less experienced its incumbent is likely to be. If this is correct, then the claim that we are witnessing the rise of the novice Cabinet minister is more a consequence of the personalisation of politics than evidence of an emerging ‘cult of youth’.     

PERSONALITY THEORY AND JUDGING: A Proposed Theory of Self-Esteem and Judicial Policy-Making

Although a variety of explanatory models have been used in recent years to explain and describe individual and aggregate judicial policy-making, little attention has been devoted to how a judge's personality may affect his or her policy choices on the bench. In fact, psychological models are important for understanding twentieth-century jurisprudence as well as for conceptualizing the conditions under which an individual decision maker will exercise policy-making discretion. This article uses a theory of self-esteem to propose how a judge's personality configuration is related to those role orientations affecting decisional outcomes. The authors also discuss how differential levels of self-esteem may affect a judge's sentencing policy.     

The North African Background: IV. PUBLIC LIFE

This concludes the series of extracts from a longer work onthe Barbary States, especially Tunis, by the writer, a surgeonthen serving in the Army.     

The French North African Background

This represents the first of a series of extracts from a longerstudy written by the author when stationed in North Africa asa surgeon in the Army. Although he claims no detailed knowledgeof Islam, Mr. Atkins starts with religion because he considersit isthe major factor in the present situation. In succeedingissues we hope to print further notes on the economic background.private life (mainly women), and public life (mainly men).     

The North African Background: III. PRIVATE LIFE

This continues our series of extracts from a longer study bya surgeon in the British Army, stationed in North Africa duringthe war.     

The French North African Background

This continues our extracts of a longer study by Mr. Atkins,written while a surgeon in the army. There are of course considerabledevelopments on foot, but these notes may provide a useful basisfor a study of contemporary trends.