Conservative Cameron takes reins in Britain
LONDON — Britain woke up to a new political era today with the first coalition government since World War II — an unlikely marriage between the Conservative Party and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats.
With a handshake, smiles and waves, the Conservative Prime Minister David 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. Cameras flashed.
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.
The government will immediately begin tackling Britain's record $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.
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.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years — the last was Lord Liverpool at 42 in 1812 — 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.
Both Cameron and Clegg have acknowledged that Labour — in power for the last 13 years — 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.
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 Cameron's party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy.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 after former Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigned Tuesday.
