Ministerial Appointments

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 
Minister of State – The Rt Hon Lord Howell* 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Henry Bellingham MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Alistair Burt MP

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Crispin Blunt MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State –  Jonathan Djanogly MP

HOME OFFICE 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) – Lynne Featherstone MP

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Gerald Howarth MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Andrew Robathan MP

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Edward Davey MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – John Penrose MP (jointly with the Department for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sports)

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Baroness Wilcox 
DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Maria Miller MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Welfare Reform) – Lord Freud*

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Anne Milton MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Earl Howe

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Tim Loughton MP

DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Andrew Stunell OBE MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Bob Neill MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Baroness Hanham CBE

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Norman Baker MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Mike Penning MP

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Richard Benyon MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Lord Henley

DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Stephen O’Brien MP

SCOTLAND OFFICE 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – David Mundell MP

WALES OFFICE
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – David Jones MP

DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, OLYMPICS, MEDIA AND SPORT 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – John Penrose MP (jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills)

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Hugh Robertson MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – The Hon Ed Vaizey MP

OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF THE COMMONS 
Parliamentary Secretary (Deputy Leader) – David Heath CBE MP*

CABINET OFFICE Parliamentary Secretary – Mark Harper MP Parliamentary Secretary – Nick Hurd MP

LAW OFFICERS 
Advocate General for Scotland –  The Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Tankerness

WHIPS – HOUSE OF COMMONS 
Deputy Chief Whip (Treasurer of HM Household) – John Randall MP 
Deputy Chief Whip (Comptroller of HM Household) – Alistair Carmichael MP 
Government Whip (Vice Chamberlain of HM Household) – Mark Francois MP

WHIPS - HOUSE OF LORDS
Lords Chief Whip (Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms) – The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE 
Deputy Chief Whip (Captain of The Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard) – Lord Shutt of Greetland OBE

*       unpaid

Coalition Cabinet

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service

The Rt Hon David Cameron MP

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform)

The Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP

First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

The Rt Hon William Hague MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer

George Osborne MP

Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice

The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP

Secretary of State for the Home Department; and Minister for Women and Equalities

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

Secretary of State for Defence

Dr Liam Fox MP

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Dr Vincent Cable MP

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Chris Huhne MP

Secretary of State for Health

Andrew Lansley CBE MP

Secretary of State for Education

Michael Gove MP

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Eric Pickles MP

Secretary of State for Transport

Philip Hammond MP

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Caroline Spelman MP

Secretary of State for International Development

Andrew Mitchell MP

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Owen Paterson MP

Secretary of State for Scotland (and providing ministerial support to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office)

Danny Alexander MP

Secretary of State for Wales

Cheryl Gillan MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport

Jeremy Hunt MP

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

David Laws MP

Leader of the House of Lords, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The Rt Hon Lord Strathclyde

Minister without Portfolio (Minister of State) *

Baroness Warsi

* Unpaid

Also attending Cabinet meetings:

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Paymaster General

The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP

Minister of State – Cabinet Office (providing policy advice to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office)

The Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP

Minister of State (Universities and Science) – Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

David Willetts MP

Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal

The Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip

The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP

Also invited to attend Cabinet meetings when required:

Attorney-General - Dominic Grieve QC MP

A Coalition Agreement

In their first press conference together, the Prime Minister and the Deputy PM, outlined their vision for coalition government over a fixed five year term of Parliament. They launched their seven page document detailing the agreement, which can be viewed in full below.

The atmosphere between the two leaders was warm and supportive, almost too much at times, with some journalists suggesting all that was missing was the confetti! Joking aside, the press conference gives us a brief taste of the style of coalition to expect. A final Coalition Agreement, covering the full range of policy including foreign, defence and domestic policy will be published soon. 

Interestingly, it appears the Lib Dems will have a minister in every government department, these ministers and the four secretaries of state can only be sacked by the Deputy PM. Update: This has since been denied, the PM will have the power to sack any member of government.

Agreement.12.5.10
The coalition cabinet is taking shape; the following appointments have been confirmed thus far:

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs - The Rt Hon William Hague MP Chancellor of the Exchequer - George Osborne MP 
• Secretary of State for Defence - Dr Liam Fox MP 
• Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice - Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke 
• Chief Whip - The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP 
• Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Women and Equality -Theresa May MP 
• Secretary of State for Health - Andrew Lansley CBE MP 
• Chief Secretary to the Treasury - David Laws MP 
• Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills - Dr Vince Cable MP 
• Secretary of State for Education - Michael Gove MP 
• Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport - Jeremy Hunt MP

A New Era of British Politics

David Cameron has finally reached the door of No.10, in his first speech as Prime Minister he confirmed that a formal coalition with Liberal Democrats would be established, it has now emerged that the Lib Dems are likely to have five seats in cabinet and Nick Clegg has been confirmed as Deputy Prime Minister this morning.

The Prime Minister stated, “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. I believe that is the best way to get the strong government that we need, decisive government that we need today.”

Nick Clegg confirmed early this morning that his parliamentary party and the Federal Executive Committee has overwhelmingly endorsed entering into a coalition government, Clegg attempted to allay fears within Lib Dem circles that swathes of their core vote may desert them, looking straight into camera he said, "I want to assure you that I wouldn't have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced that it offers a unique opportunity to deliver the kind of changes that you and I believe in."

Now the drama of the last six days has finally reached a conclusion, it is  time to understand how parliament and government will work in these extraordinary circumstances, some immediate points of interest below:

The musical chairs will make for a fascinating first prime minister's questions, which feasibly might not be held until June 9 but could be the week before. Convention dictates that the second set of questions at PMQs - the permanent chance to hold the prime minister to account - is handed to the second largest opposition party.

The DUP - currently leaderless at Westminster after Peter Robinson lost his East Belfast seat last week - is in pole position with eight seats. The decision on whether this convention should continue would ultimately be the Speaker's, but expect some sort of row to break out here.

How opposition days are organised remains also remains a question to be answered, while the organisation of votes and whipping will make for a delicate arrangement. They may also have to strike some sort of deal on the election of the three deputy speakers who, for the first time, will be elected on the single transferable vote system.

Expect a lot of bartering on the composition of select committees. According to standing orders, a new edition of which has already been published, this has to be settled on within two weeks of the state opening, but their likely make up would also be altered under a coalition.

More details on the full cabinet to follow...

Hung Parliament

For the first time in decades the British electorate have delivered a hung parliament, with no party winning the magic number of 326 seats in the House of Commons, the amount required to command a majority. 

Cue frantic negotiations between the Tories and Lib Dems, which have been described as ‘positive and constructive’. Meanwhile Gordon Brown remains our Prime Minster, though his reign looks set to end very soon. With the Tories and Lib Dems consulting their MPs today, a deal looks set to emerge this evening.

Despite Labour attempts to court the Lib Dems, with details of a secret meeting over the weekend now surfacing it seems a Con-Lib pact is the most likely conclusion to this election. Details of the pact are yet to emerge, as is the stance the Tories have taken on electoral reform, a central tenet of Lib Dem policy.

Eight days to go...

The polls continue to show the surge in Lib Dem support is holding, with the Tory lead continuing to be extremely narrow. The possibility of a hung parliament is very real, with only eight days until the country goes to the polls.

Nick Clegg, the man of the moment, has been giving conflicting views on which party the Lib Dems would be most likely to support. Clegg has already questioned the constitutional convention of the PM being offered the first chance to form government, despite the possibility that Labour could finish third in the polls. Meanwhile, the Tories are campaigning hard for a majority government, their latest PEB directly attacks the possibility of a hung parliament. And with some polls showing the best improvement in their share of the vote since the first leader’s debate earlier this month, it may be working.

All three parties have come under pressure to clarify where they would make cuts in public spending, following an IFS report criticising the gaping holes in their manifesto figures – this is unlikely to change, with just over a week to go none of the parties will be keen to forensically setting out there cuts plan.

Next Thursday’s leaders debate which focuses on Gordon Brown’s strong point, the economy, this set piece could inject more volatility into the polls and perhaps even decide the election. In short there is still everything to play for in this election, which will go down in history, not only for setting a precedent with the televised debates, but also for being the tightest election in a generation.

Clegg wins first ever leaders debate

As widely predicted, Nick Clegg gained the most from last night’s historic leader’s debate. David Cameron failed to live up to expectations, and looked rigid throughout, playing it safe perhaps. Gordon Brown delivered his usual recognisable performance, handling the intensity of the ninety minutes better than many commnetators had expected.

Despite viewing figures being lower than expected, peaking at 9.9 million, many people will have been hearing and seeing Nick Clegg for the first time, in this respect he could not fail to impress – I supect he looked different and dare I say it refreshing to electorate.

Now before rushing to the conclusion that the two party system is dead, it is crucial to note that the instant polling which gave Clegg a vote of confidence is highly unlikely to transfer across to the national polls. Much to the dismay of the Lib Dems, I suspect.

If the TV debates, and it’s a big if, lead to an increased Lib Dem share of the vote it may be Labour who stand to lose the most. Paradoxically, a surge in Lib Dem votes may increase a Tory majority and ensure a Lib/Lab coalition is resigned to the political dustbin.

Perhaps, the most pertinent question to ask is, do these debates really matter?

Second debate – International affairs
Date: 22 April 2010; 8 pm
Channel: Sky News, Sky News HD
Location: The South West
Moderator: Adam Boulton

Third debate – Economic affairs
Date: 29 April 2010; 8:30 pm
Channel: BBC One, BBC HD, BBC News Channel
Location: The Midlands
Moderator: David Dimbleby

Election battle begins...

As expected the Prime Minster today asked the Queen to dissolve parliament for a May 6 Election, Parliament will continue as normal today, followed by the “wash up" process which will allow the parties to horse trade on legislation that has made it through one chamber of Parliament and reached second reading in the other. 

Bills that are eligible for “wash up” include:

• Digital Economy Bill
• Children, Schools and Families Bill 
• Bribery Bill
• Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill
• Crime and Security Bill
• Energy Bill
• Financial Services Bill
• Finance Bill
• Flood and Water Management Bill

In what promises to be the most exciting general election for a generation, all three party leaders outlined their campaign platforms amidst this morning's media hysteria. The PM outlined “three big challenges" facing the country - securing the recovery, protecting front-line services whilst halving the deficit, and renewing politics. David Cameron launched his Party’s campaign by saying he is fighting for "the great ignored".  Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will launch his campaign in the three-way marginal constituency of Watford.

Dates have now been confirmed for Prime Ministerial TV debates - 15th (ITV, Manchester), 22nd (Sky, Bristol) and 29th (BBC, Birmingham) - These could prove to be game changers.

With the election called, 'purdah' has now commenced, meaning that government continues to operate but cannot make any major policy announcements.

It has also been announced Parliament won't return until May 18th after the election, this is slightly longer than usual, a reflection of the real possibility of a hung Parliament. The election of the Speaker will take place first, along with the swearing-in of the members of parliament. The Queen's Speech will take place the following week and it is expected that this will occur on Wednesday May 26.

PMQs

The main focus of today's session was of course, defence, given the PM's recent testistomy at the Chilcot Inquiry. Cameron kicked off with, "Yesterday we had the inquest of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan in 2008. At the time the defence minister, the member for Grantham and Stamford [Quentin Davies] linked their deaths to the commander's choice of vehicle." The PM repeated that Mr Davies had apologised for the remarks. Cameron continued his line of attack in claiming former service personnel have criticised the PM's perfomance at Chilcott.

Inevitably the PM rebuked Cameron's calls for integrity with jibes about Lord Ashcroft's role in the Conservative party. A confident and relaxed PM, even cracked a joke, when Cameron claimed the Tories won the Cold War, claiming that Cameron was "still at school at the time".

Clegg focused on prison policy, specifically re-offending rates, he said Labour had allowed prisons to become "colleges of crime", which are now costing the taxpayer £10bn each year.

Overall, Cameron's angry performance failed to land significant blows on the notably composed PM, perhaps the new confidence is a reflection of today's YouGov poll which showed a reduced 4 point lead for the Tories.

In other news, the budget was finally confirmed today and as expected will take place on 24th March which should once and for all silence speculation of an early general election.

Forces of hell unleashed at PMQs

It’s been an interesting week for the PM, with Andrew Rawnsley’s much hyped book serialisation providing snippets of life in No.10 based on "24 carat" sources; the furore that has followed has been rather surprising. 

Helped by the PR disaster that is Christine Pratt who went on a media blitz earlier this week in a clear attempt to promote her now ailing charity, by claiming there has been complaints about bullying from inside No.10 (Helpfully, Taiwanese media have made a CGI reconstruction, which is fast becoming a viral hit).

Fast forward through the media frenzy and we arrive at today, with the election getting closer by the minute, what effect has the bully allegations had on the PM. In short the impact has been minimal, Labour have continued to narrow the Tory lead with today’s Sun/You Gov suggesting the Tories have a mere six point lead. Hung parliament anyone?

Alastair Darling’s revelation that he had the ‘forces of hell’ directed at him by No.10, in the now infamous disagreement he had with the PM over his recession predictions – which turned out to be accurate – provided Cameron with plenty of ammunition for today’s PMQs. 

Leading with the failings in Stafford Hospital, it did not take long for Cameron to claim that openness was not only needed in the NHS but also at the heart of government. His remaining questions concentrated on the briefing against the Chancellor. A notably calm Brown denied and praised Alastair Darling.

Clegg did quite well today recognising that the ‘new’ Labour  election slogan is actually a recycled one, "Last time PM wheeled out Future Fair For All was in 2003. The gap in tax between rich and poor has doubled - hardly fair." He continued, “A Future Fair For All, is not a slogan it’s a warning”

One of more humorous moments of the session came from Mr Speaker, "If the House does not quiet down I will have to ring a helpline myself". Overall, a fiery session which the PM seemed to handle well and eventually win.