David Cameron takes over as new Prime Minister

Published on Tuesday 11 May 2010 23:24

DAVID Cameron is preparing to start work today as Prime Minister of Britain's first coalition government for 70 years, after Gordon Brown brought down the curtain on the New Labour era.

• David Cameron and wife Samantha at the door of Number 10 after the Queen invited him to form a new government. Picture: PA

Five days after the polls closed, Mr Brown announced he would be resigning from office and walked out of Downing Street for the final time at just after 7pm last night.

Less than two hours later, Mr Cameron was on the steps outside No 10, having been asked by the Queen to form a new government. With his wife Samantha at his side, he pledged to run a government based on the values of "freedom, fairness and responsibility".

At ten minutes past midnight this morning, the deal was approved by Liberal Democrat MPs, peers and the party's ruling federal executive.

A spokesman said: "The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive has today endorsed the agreement reached between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives to form a coalition government, by the required three-quarters majority."

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Leaving the meeting, Lord Ashdown, a former party leader, refused to be drawn on a possible Cabinet position.

He said: "I think the meeting was unanimous. I haven't seen the figures, but we have a policy platform now of which we can be proud.

"My only regret is that Labour walked away from a progressive coalition."

Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael said: "I am absolutely delighted with what we have got. It is a very fair reflection of the Liberal Democrat manifesto, on which I fought so hard.

"We have got things which the Labour Party failed to do in the last 13 years and of which Scotland can be immensely proud.

"For example, we will end child detention of the children of illegal immigrants at places like Dungavel. The Labour Party sold its soul in locking up children – we will end that."

The Prime Minister said he wanted to create a "full, proper, strong and stable" coalition with the Lib Dems.

The Tories confirmed that Mr Cameron's closest ally, George Osborne, would be the new Chancellor, quashing speculation that the post may be handed to the Lib Dems' Vince Cable. Mr Cable is instead expected to be named Mr Osborne's deputy, in the post of Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, whose public profile was boosted during the election campaign, will become Deputy Prime Minister, even standing in for Mr Cameron during Prime Minister's Questions.

As expected, William Hague was named the new Foreign Secretary.

Other Cabinet posts will be confirmed today, amid growing speculation that the post of Scottish Secretary will be handed to the Lib Dem MP Danny Alexander.

Key elements in the new coalition deal include new five-year fixed-term parliaments, meaning the next election will be held in May 2015.

The two parties are also set to scrap Labour's plans to introduce ID cards.

In addition, it is understood one of the key elements of the deal thrashed out yesterday between the two coalition partners will see the Conservatives abandon their plans to increase the threshold on inheritance tax to 1 million. With the money saved, the government will adopt the Lib Dem proposal to scrap tax on the first 10,000 of earned income.

It is understood the Lib Dems have agreed to axe their policy of giving long-standing illegal immigrants the right to stay in the country.

Mr Cameron is the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812 and the first Conservative leader to have replaced a Labour incumbent since Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Next week, he will honour a pledge to visit Scotland to see First Minister Alex Salmond, as the Conservatives seek to show they intend to govern for the whole country.

It comes after the party won only a single seat in Scotland last week, and amid predictions that a new Tory government will trigger a surge in support for independence.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed that US president Barack Obama had called the new Prime Minister to offer his congratulations. Mr Cameron has been invited to visit Washington this summer to meet Mr Obama.

With a Tory-Lib Dem deal imminent, a new form of political warfare had already begun last night, as Labour accused Mr Clegg's party of having "done a deal with the devil".

The Lib Dems hit back, claiming Labour's attempts earlier in the day to form a coalition with them had been little more than a charade.

The new Prime Minister's first task today will be nail down his new coalition, which faces immediate internal and external pressures.

Yesterday was the climax of an unprecedented five-day Westminster drama, and it began with the Lib Dems still in talks with Labour about a possible pact. Midway through the afternoon, however, those talks collapsed.

It was at that moment Mr Brown realised he had no alternative but to resign, and he emerged on to Downing Street for the last time as prime minister at 7:22pm.

With his wife Sarah looking on, he said: "Only those that have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities and its great capacity for good.

"I have been privileged to learn much about the very best in human nature and a fair amount, too, about its frailties, including my own."

Mr and Mrs Brown then posed for photographs alongside their sons, John and Fraser, having given permission for them to be pictured for the first time. The outgoing PM's voice faltered as he spoke of his love for his family. "As I leave the second most important job I could ever hold, I cherish even more the first – as a husband and father," he said, concluding: "Thank you and goodbye."

After going to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the Queen, he spoke to Labour activists before returning to the family home in North Queensferry, Fife.

Just after 8pm, Mr Cameron made the journey to Buckingham Palace and, after a half-hour meeting with the Queen, was appointed Prime Minister.

He was driven to Downing Street and spoke outside No 10 just before dusk, to the backdrop of contrasting sounds of supporters and protesters.

In the key passage of his opening speech, he said: "I want to build a more responsible society here in Britain, one where we don't just ask what are my entitlements but what are my responsibilities, one where we don't ask what am I just owed but more what can I give, and a guide for that society that those that can should and those who can't we will always help."

Mr Cameron conceded that a coalition government would "throw up all sorts of challenges", amid predictions that Tory right-wingers and left-wingers in the Lib Dems would inevitably fall out. He said: "But I believe together we can provide that strong and stable government that our country needs, based on those values, rebuilding family, rebuilding community, above all rebuilding responsibility in our country."

Turning to Britain's gaping 160 billion-a-year deficit, he said: "We must take everyone through with us on some of the difficult decisions that we have ahead."

Speaking about the values of fairness, responsibility and freedom, he said: "Those are the things I care about, those are the things that this government will now start work on doing."

As Mr Cameron was entering Downing Street, Lib Dem MPs and senior party figures were meeting to discuss the terms of the coalition deal. They agreed to sign up to the pact, having won clear concessions from the Conservatives. These included a commitment to hold a referendum soon on a change to the electoral system. The Lib Dem manifesto proposal to cut tax on income earned below 10,000 is also expected to be accepted.

Senior Lib Dem front-bencher Simon Hughes said all the signs were that his party would soon be in office for the first time since the national government of 1945.

He said: "I pay tribute to the Conservative Party who, in all the negotiations, have both shown sincerity and a willingness to come to an agreement on issues that matter to us."

He added: "That's why people like me from the radical centre-left of the party I think will be willing tonight to put my hand up and say, 'Yes, this is how we should proceed'."

No sooner had Mr Cameron entered No 10 than he had to leave for the Commons where he addressed Tory MPs, setting out the terms of the deal that had been worked out by his negotiation team following more than six hours of talks.

As Mr Brown landed back in Scotland last night, tributes were pouring in. First Minister Alex Salmond, a long-time political rival, said: "For 30 years, Gordon Brown has been at the very forefront of first Scottish and then UK politics.

"No-one could doubt his powerful intellectual capacity, his commitment, and the strength with which he pursued his objectives.

"In his departure, the Labour Party have lost not just a leader, but almost a force of nature. I wish Gordon and his family well for whatever the future holds."

Tony Blair, who was Mr Brown's predecessor as prime minister, said: "I pay tribute to the dignity, courage and leadership he has shown in these last few days and to the quite extraordinary service he has given to our country in 13 years of government as chancellor and prime minister and to the cause of social justice at home and abroad."

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