Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cameron begins to form his cabinet

As David Cameron starts his first day in office his first task will be to form a cabinet. Already he has handed the post of deputy prime minister to Liberal democrat leader Nick Clegg but many posts remain unfilled. William Hague has been placed in the role of foreign secretary. Speaking earlier he said, "I don't think it will be a weak coalition. It will be a strong government, the strongest we've had for some time." Conservative George Osborne has become the new chancellor of the exchequer, while the Liberal Democrat's Vince Cable has been tipped to join his team. On the subject of working with the new Chancellor, Cable told the BBC, with a smile and slight hesitation, "We've had our differences, but I think both of us realise that there's a massive task now facing this country. We're business-like. I'm happy to work with him." Veteran MP and former chancellor Ken Clarke will be the new justice secretary.

Conservatives Dr Liam Fox and Andrew Lansley have been given roles as defence secretary and health secretary respectively while Chris Huhne has been placed in the role of energy and climate change. Liberal Democrats David Lucas and Danny Alexander are also expected to get posts within the cabinet. Though nothing has been confirmed, Lucas is tipped for the role of education secretary while Alexander may take up the reins of Scottish secretary. Meanwhile the Conservative Michael Gove was tipped for home secretary though the post was later given to Theresa May. The former Times journalist and a key member of David Cameron's inner circle, Gove helps write many of Cameron's speeches. Twenty Liberal Democrats are expected to join the Tories with junior ministerial jobs [BBC / Telegraph / Papers: Sky].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

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