LONDON -- David Cameron, the youthful leader who modernized the party
of right-wing icon Margaret Thatcher, became prime minister Tuesday
after the resignation of Gordon Brown -- capping a gripping election
saga that returns the Tories to government after 13 years of Labour
Party rule.
Following tradition, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Cameron at Buckingham
Palace -- a stately denouement to a behind-the-scenes dogfight between
Cameron and Brown for the cooperation of Britain's third-place party,
after an election that left no party with a majority.
Within minutes, the 43-year-old Cameron was installed at No. 10 Downing
Street, becoming the youngest prime minister in almost 200 years, since
Lord Liverpool took office at age 42.
An announcement followed that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg would
become deputy prime minister -- a rarely awarded and prestigious post
-- after days of hard bargaining with his former political rivals. Four
other Liberal Democrats also received Cabinet posts.
Cameron and Clegg agreed to form a coalition after Cameron's
Conservative Party won the most seats in Britain's May 6 national
election, but fell short of winning a majority of seats in Parliament.
The agreement, reached over five sometimes tense days of negotiation,
delivered Britain's first full coalition government since World War II.
"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.
President Barack Obama telephoned to congratulate Cameron, and invited
him to visit Washington this summer, according to the White House.
Obama told Cameron that he looked forward to meeting at an
international economic summit to be held in Canada next month.
Cameron has pledged an emergency budget within 50 days. Cameron,
Britain's youngest prime minister in two centuries, has a heavy agenda
on Wednesday, the day after he sealed a coalition deal between his
Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Steps to deal with Britain's
slowly recovering economy and its ballooning debt loom as a crucial
early focus for the government. At least 1.3 million people have been
laid off and tens of thousands have lost their homes in a crushing
recession.
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