Head of government
- This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State.
The head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister, President of the Government, Premier, etc. In presidential republics or monarchies, the head of government may be the same person as the head of state, who is often a president (of the republic) or a monarch.
The current record of longest-serving head of government in a democratic nation is Tage Erlander, who was social democratic prime minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969, a total of 23 consecutive years. He won a total of eight elections and was finally succeeded due to old age.
In semi-presidential systems, the Head of Government may answer to both the Head of State and the legislative power (such as parliament). An example is the French Fifth Republic (1958-present), where the Président de la République appoints a Prime Minister but must choose someone who can get government business through, and has the support of, the National Assembly. When the opposition controls the National Assembly (and thus government funding and most legislation), the President is in effect forced to choose a Prime Minister from the opposition; in such cases, known as cohabitation, the government controls internal state policy, with the President restricted largely to foreign affairs.
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The most common name for a head of government is "Prime Minister."[citation needed] This is used as a formal title in many states, but also informally as a generic term to describe whichever office is formally the first amongst the executive "ministers" of a Head of State. Minister – from the Latin for servants or subordinates (i.e. servant or subordinate to the Head of State) – is a common title for members of a government (but many other titles are in use, e.g. secretary (of state)).
Formally, the "Head of State" can also personally be Head of Government (ex officio or by ad hoc cumulation such as an absolute monarch nominating himself) but otherwise has formal precedence over the Head of Government and other ministers, whether he is their actual political superior (Absolute Monarch, Executive President) or rather theoretical or ceremonial in character. Various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various political meanings depending on the constitution and political system of the state in question.
The Head of Government is often provided with an official residence, in the same way as Heads of State often are.
Well-known official residences of heads of government include:
- 10 Downing Street in London – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (who also has a country residence Chequers)
- 24 Sussex Drive in the federal capital Ottawa – Prime Minister of Canada
- Palazzo Chigi— President of Council of the Minister of Italy (or Villa Doria Pamphili for official events)
- Kantei in Tokyo – Prime Minister of Japan
- The Lodge in Canberra ; and Kirribilli House in Sydney— Prime Minister of Australia
- Hôtel Matignon, Paris— French Prime Minister (a grand palace is called a hôtel in French)
- 'the' Lambermont (actually the name of the street), Brussels – federal Prime Minister of Belgium (a project to move to a grander palace was abandoned after public protests)
- Malacanang Palace in Manila – President of the Philippines
- Palacio de la Moncloa in Madrid – President of the Government of Spain
- Premier House in Wellington – Prime Minister of New Zealand
- Sager House in Stockholm and Harpsund manor in Södermanland – Prime Minister of Sweden
- Ballhausplatz 1 (Hofburg Palace, the presidential residence) and Ballhausplatz 2 the official residence of the Federal Chancellor of Austria.
- Seri Perdana in Putrajaya – Prime Minister of Malaysia
See official residence article for a fuller list.
The name of the residence is often used as a metonym or alternate title for 'the government' when the office is politically the highest, e.g. "10 Downing Street" would be used as an alternative form of "the British government".
Similarly the Heads of Government of (con)federal entities below the level of the sovereign state (often without an actual Head of State, at least under international law) may also be given an official residence. This is sometimes used as an opportunity by provincial/regional governments to display aspirations of statehood, e.g.:
- In Belgium, the Minister-president of the majority Dutch-speaking Flemish community region in the north has a residence: the Hotel Errera (in Brussels) and the Walloon Minister-president also has a residence: the Élysette (a diminutive in French of the Élysée, the French presidential palace) in Namur.
However, Heads of Governments' residences are usually far less grand than those of a Head of State (even a merely ceremonial one), unless they combine both roles, as for example:
- The White House (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) in Washington, D.C. – President of the United States of America
Even the formal representative of the Head of State, such as a Governor-General, may well be housed in a grander palace-type residence, often with such names as Government House.
- Jean Blondel & Ferdinand Muller-Rommel Cabinets in Western Europe (ISBN 0-333-46209-2)
- WorldStatesmen (click on each country)
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