In the 1970s, Richard Crossman, a minister in Harold Wilson’s UK government, published a set of diaries outlining the code of ministerial duties in a parliamentary system. Ministers, Crossman explained, were the essential link between the executive and legislative functions of government. They exercised decision-making power while being accountable to Parliament. This power required a degree of independent discretion, and ministers were responsible for matters within their departmental remit, provided they adhered to the principle of collective cabinet solidarity.
