THE Conservative/Liberal Democrats alliance will alter the shape of British politics forever, British prime minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg have declared.
Describing the deal as “a seismic shift”, they acknowledged that a final programme for government could take weeks to negotiate, though the main points have been settled.
Conservative Party leader Mr Cameron spent much of yesterday appointing his cabinet.
In the new government Mr Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is in charge of delivering on promises to reform the voting rules, offering constituents the chance to penalise errant MPs, and updating the House of Lords.
However, there are signals that elements of the Liberal Democrats are ready to walk away over Mr Clegg’s decision to join with the Conservatives instead of Labour.
The Liberal Democrats will hold a delegates conference in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon to vote on the pact, even though ratification by them is not required since MPs and the party’s governing body sanctioned it in sufficient numbers.
Meanwhile, the race for the leadership of the Labour Party has begun in earnest following the declaration yesterday by David Miliband that he intends to seek the position. The 44-year-old former foreign secretary, criticised in the past for being aloof from Labour MPs and the organisation as a whole, is to spend coming days visiting constituencies where Labour lost seats in the election.
His younger brother, Ed, may put his hat in the ring on Saturday when he speaks at the Fabian Society, while a former cabinet colleague of both of them, Ed Balls, is also expected to enter the race.
Making it clear that difficult spending cuts lie ahead, both Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg attempted to adopt a positive tone at a joint press conference yesterday. “This will succeed by its success,” said Mr Clegg.
However, Mr Cameron may have issues in time with some of his anti-European MPs given that the seven-page document issued yesterday appears to adopt a distinctly neutral tone towards Brussels.
Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King welcomed the government’s agreement to proceed quickly with spending cuts.
Owen Paterson, who served as shadow secretary for Northern Ireland in opposition, is to become Northern Ireland Secretary of State.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen phoned Mr Cameron yesterday to congratulate him on his appointment. A Government statement said the two discussed the importance of maintaining the close relationship between the Irish and British governments on Northern Ireland and other matters of mutual interest.
Mr Cowen also spoke to former prime minister Gordon Brown and thanked him in particular for his role in the North’s peace process, a Government spokesman said.