A SEAT on the Executive Council is a mark of prestige and authority within the community, as well as a passport to the secrets of Government. It bestows both power and responsibility and, in the past, a high profile. When the Government needed supportfor its policies, members were expected to speak up.
Today its role in advising the Governor and acting as a check-and-balance on the administration's policies may be no different, but the public perception most certainly is. Since the October 7 policy speech by Mr Chris Patten, doubts have arisen as to the value and effectiveness of Exco.
The impression has been created of a body that has been sidelined in the new power structure. The removal of politicians from Exco no doubt makes its discussions more consensual, less stage managed, but it has left the public with the image of a small, elite group divorced from the hurly-burly of debate about the big issues of the day.
With the Governor well and truly in the limelight since his arrival six months ago, and the reshaped Legislative Council being propelled into a pivotal role in the argument between Britain and China over political reform, Exco's contribution has been difficult to discern.
It is a deliberate decision by Mr Patten to take the flak himself, rather than claim his policies were the result of consultations with his inner cabinet. Indeed, the package he unveiled in his policy speech three months ago was not endorsed by Exco, for the simple reason he did not take it to them in advance. That in itself has tended to devalue Exco's importance in the public eye.
Its current members, only two of whom survived from the previous Governor's collection of advisers, will argue that they continue to exercise vigorously their right to approve or reject plans and policies put before them, and that they often help the administration to avoid costly or embarrassing mistakes.
The separation of the Executive and Legislative Councils has, however, made it harder for that contribution to be more widely appreciated. The respect that the old-style Exco commanded derived not only from members' own wealth of local experience, but also their contact with public opinion through cross-membership with the Legislative Council. Once decisions had been taken by Exco, it was the job of those councillors who were also members of the legislature to explain Government thinking and lobby support.