LONDON (AP) — Britain woke up to a new political era Wednesday with its first coalition government since World War II, an unlikely marriage between the right-wing Conservative Party — reborn under modernizing new Prime Minister David Cameron — and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats.
With a handshake, smiles and waves, Cameron welcomed his new coalition partner, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, outside the shiny black door at 10 Downing Street and set off on the business of running the country.
The alliance was necessary because no party won a majority of parliamentary seats in last week’s national vote. Britons struggling to make ends meet during a punishing recession have been enraged at politicians of all stripes after a damaging lawmakers’ expense scandal last year.
Once described as sandal-wearing hippie academics, Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have emerged from the political fringe to the top rung of government. The party is expected to gain five Cabinet seats and more than a dozen junior government roles in what will be one of the least experienced governments since Tony Blair’s Labour Party won a landslide victory in 1997.
"Of course, we must recognise that all coalitions are about compromise," Cameron wrote. "This one is no different."
Cameron said the coalition agreement commits the next government to a significantly accelerated reduction in the budget deficit, to cut 6 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) of government waste and to stop an increase in the national insurance tax.
Cameron, in an e-mail to supporters, said the agreement allows Conservatives to move forward on school and welfare reform and rejects Liberal Democrat pledges to get rid of nuclear submarines, offer amnesty to illegal immigrants or handover any additional powers to the
The government will immediately begin tackling Britain’s record 153 billion-pound ($236 billion) deficit. It is still unclear whether the Liberal Democrats will back the Conservatives’ plan to begin immediate spending cuts — a punishing course of action that isn’t likely to win praise from the electorate.
Bank of England governor Mervyn King gave a strong endorsement to the new government’s plans for attacking the deficit, calling it the single most important problem facing the United Kingdom."
"And the agreement that I have been informed about that was been reached between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats is a very strong and powerful agreement to reduce that deficit and to take more action," King said.
One of the first calls of congratulation to the new prime minister came from President Barack Obama, an acknowledgment of Britain’s most important bilateral relationship. Obama invited Cameron to visit Washington this summer.
Both Cameron and Clegg have acknowledged that Labour under Blair was too closely tied to Washington’s interests. Both men back the Afghanistan mission, but Cameron hopes to withdraw British troops within five years. Clegg has said he’s uneasy at a rising death toll. Leaner coffers may also mean less money to enter foreign-led military operations.
The new foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that the new government wanted a "solid but not slavish relationship" with the United States and described the so-called special relationship between the two countries as being of "huge importance."
"No doubt we will not agree on everything," Hague said of the United States. "But they remain, in intelligence matters, in nuclear matters, in international diplomacy, in what we are doing in Afghanistan, the indispensable partner of this country."
Relations with European neighbors could also become problematic. Cameron’s party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.
Labour, meanwhile, took steps to regroup, with the maneuvering under way for the job of party leader. David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, has emerged as a top candidate and has earned the backing of another early favorite, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
Brown’s deputy Harriet Harman would become interim Labour leader until a formal leadership takes place to select his permanent successor.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain’s youngest prime minister in almost 200 years — the last was Lord Liverpool at 42 — after cementing a coalition deal with the third-place Liberal Democrats. Clegg and four other Liberal Democrats received Cabinet posts. A number of other Liberal Democrats would receive junior posts.
The agreement, reached over five sometimes tense days of negotiation, delivered Britain’s first coalition government since World War II.
"This is a genuine compromise between the parties," Hague said. "There are many things the Liberal Democrats have had to swallow that are very difficult for them, just as there are some things — like holding a referendum on a new voting system — that are very difficult for the Conservative Party to accept. That means, of course, there will be people in both parties who quietly wish it hadn’t happened, I’m sure."
Cameron and Clegg agreed to a pact after the Conservative Party won the most seats in Britain’s May 6 national election, but fell short of winning a majority of seats in Parliament.
Cameron’s Conservatives said senior lawmaker George Osborne will serve as Treasury chief, and lawmaker Liam Fox as defense secretary. Other top appointments include Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary and Theresa May as Home Office secretary.
Other leading positions were being finalized, as were key policy decisions ahead of the presentation of the coalition’s first legislative program on May 25.
The coalition has already agreed on a five-year, fixed-term Parliament — the first time Britain has had the date of its next election decided in advance. Both sides have made compromise, and Cameron has promised Clegg a referendum on his key issue: reform of Britain’s electoral system aimed at creating a more proportional system.
"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," Cameron said Tuesday.
Brown’s resignation ends five days of uncertainty after last week’s general election left the country with no clear winner. It left Britain with its first so-called hung Parliament since 1974. Britain’s Conservatives won the most seats but fell short of a majority, forcing them to bid against the Labour Party for the loyalty of the Lib Dems.
