Cameron takes over as PM

LONDON, MAY 12
Conservative leader David Cameron, who favours a ‘new special relationship’ with India, took charge as Britain’s youngest Prime Minister in nearly 200 years, heading a coalition with the support of centrist Lib Dems, and vowed to put aside party differences and provide a strong and decisive government.
43-year-old Cameron, who ended the Labour’s 13-year reign, made Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg Deputy Prime Minister.
“This (coalition) is a five-year arrangement… and we will take decisions in the long term interest of the country,” Cameron said at a joint press conference with Clegg here today.
Clegg, also 43, said this is a government that will last. “There will be bumps… but we are united.”
Earlier in the day, Cameron named part of his Cabinet, giving four more posts to Lib Dems, who came third in the May 6 general election which threw up a hung Parliament.
Conservatives were the single largest party with 306 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, while Labour bagged 258 and Lib Dems 57.
William Hague, a veteran Tory leader, will be the Foreign Secretary while George Osborne will be the new Chancellor of Exchequer. 38-year-old Osborne becomes the youngest Chancellor of the Exchequer in 125 years.
Liam Fox will be Defence Secretary, Theresa May (Home Secretary), Ken Clarke (Justice Secretary) and Andrew Lansley (Health Secretary).
Lib Dems’ Vince Cable will be Business/Banking Secretary, Danny Alexander, Scottish Secretary; and Chris Huhne, Environment and Climate Secretary; while David Laws is tipped to be the Schools Secretary.
Besides five Liberal Democrats in the Cabinet, there will be around 15 other ministers from the party at the junior level.
“We have some deep and pressing problems,” Cameron, who heads the first coalition government in 70 years, said in his maiden speech after arriving at the No. 10, Downing Street, flanked by his pregnant wife Samantha.
Earlier, a statement from Buckingham Palace said the Queen had requested Cameron to form a new government.
“The Right Honourable David Cameron accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister,” it said.
Cameron, the youngest Prime Minister since 1812 when Lord Liverpool ran the government at the age of 42, identified the challenges before his government as a huge deficit, deep social problems and political system in need of reform. “For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.”
Cameron, who visited India after taking over as the Conservative chief in 2006, has pledged to support its bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.
His party’s manifesto says that the Conservatives will “work to establish a new special relationship with India, the world’s largest democracy.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Cameron on his appointment and invited him to make an early visit to India.
“Both reinforced the strong bilateral relationship between India and the United Kingdom and looked forward to strengthening it further,” a Downing Street spokesman said after their 10-minute telephonic conversation.
Cameron, son of a stock broker, candidly stated in his speech at the No.10 Downing Street that a coalition would throw up all sorts of challenges. “But I believe together we can provide that strong and stable government that our country needs.”
“Nick Clegg and I are both political leaders who want to put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest,” he said.
During the press interaction, Cameron said the new government was aiming to change the face of UK politics. He said Clegg will be entrusted with the task of political reforms.
On his part, Clegg said “both of us are taking big risks” but “we feel this is the right thing to do at this time” in Britain’s interest.
Assuring that his government would last full five years, Cameron also announced that the next election will take place on the first Thursday in May 2015.
The Tories will increase capital gains tax sharply on the sale of second homes, shares and other “non business” assets to fund income tax cuts for lower-paid workers, which were demanded by the Lib Dems. The move is likely to prove highly controversial with core Tory supporters.
“I came into politics because I love this country, I think its best days still lie ahead and I believe deeply in public service, and I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions, to lead people through those difficult decisions so that together we can reach better times ahead,” Cameron said.
Echoing former premier Tony Blair’s promise to be ‘servants of the people’, Cameron said: “One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system.
“Yes, that’s about cleaning up expenses, yes, that’s about reforming Parliament and, yes, it’s about making sure people are in control and that the politicians are always their servants and never their masters.”
Admitting that he would face difficulties having to lead a coalition government, Cameron said: “This is going to be hard and difficult work.”
Cameron, who within minutes of entering No.10 received a congratulatory phone call from US President Barack Obama as well, also paid tributes to his predecessor Gordon Brown.
“On behalf of the whole country I’d like to pay tribute to the outgoing prime minister for his long record of dedicated public service.”
In his farewell address, Brown said “I wish the next Prime Minister well as he makes the important choices for the future.”
“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.
“Above all, it was a privilege to serve. And yes, I loved the job not for its prestige, its titles and its ceremony — which I do not love at all. No, I loved the job for its potential to make this country I love fairer, more tolerant, more green, more democratic, more prosperous and more just — truly a greater Britain,” Brown said.