It exercised executive authority formally vested in the British monarch in relation to devolved matters.

In theory the executive committee was not answerable to the House of Commons but held their positions "during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant".

[3] In practice the executive committee was answerable to the elected House of Commons of Northern Ireland.

The executive committee thus played an equivalent constitutional role in relation to Northern Ireland as the UK Cabinet did to the United Kingdom as a whole.

From 1937 to 1944, Parker was Parliamentary Secretary (junior minister) to the Ministry of Education.