Cameron sets 1812 record
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Britain got its first coalition government after the Second World War as newly-elected Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, on Wednesday gave shape to their historic coalition by appointing the Cabinet.
Mr Cameron, who favours a “new special relationship with India” and supports New Delhi’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, and Mr Clegg cemented their coalition government with a handshake in front of Number 10 Downing Street on Wednesday morning before starting on their first task - appointing the new Cabinet.
Mr Cameron is Britain’s youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. The youngest ever was Pitt the Younger, at 24, though the term Prime Minister was not then in use. Mr Clegg, who became Mr Cameron’s deputy, will be in charge of constitutional and political reform. He managed to get Cabinet posts for four more LibDem MPs — Vince Cable is business secretary, Chris Huhne is energy and environment secretary, Danny Alexander is Scottish secretary and David Laws is chief secretary to the Treasury. This puts three members of the LibDem negotiating team in the Cabinet along with Mr Clegg, the party leader, and Mr Cable, the deputy leader.
Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg held their first joint press conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Rose Garden at Downing Street, interrupting their laborious process of appointing Cabinet ministers one by one.
Emphasising their “shared resolve” to tackle the challenges facing Britain, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg appeared as equal partners in the coalition government. The coalition, Mr Cameron said, would be united behind the principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility and its key purpose would be to provide “strong, stable and determined” leadership for the long term.
“We have a shared agenda and a shared resolve to tackle the challenges our country faces; to safeguard our national security and support our troops abroad, to tackle the debt crisis, to repair our broken political system and to build a stronger society,” Mr Cameron said.
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