George Osborne (Chancellor, Conservative):Osborne (38) is the youngest chancellor of the exchequer since Randolph Churchill in 1886. He wants early action to tackle Britain's large budget deficit and backs cuts in wasteful government spending to reverse a planned rise in payroll tax for most.
Vince Cable (Business secretary, Liberal Democrat) :Cable (67) shot to prominence during the global banking crisis, when he gained a reputation for economic sagacity for his no-nonsense warnings of looming financial peril. A former chief economist with Shell, he also won plaudits as a parliamentary wit after joking that the banking crash had transformed then prime minister Gordon Brown "from Stalin to Mr Bean, creating chaos out of order rather than order out of chaos".
William Hague (Foreign affairs, Conservative):A schoolboy speech made Hague, now 49, the darling of the Conservative Party when he was just 16. At 34 he became a cabinet minister and in 1997, aged 36, he won the party leadership after Labours election victory ended 18 years of Conservative rule. He moved the party to the right, embracing hardline policies on asylum, immigration and Europe, but succeeded only in shoring up the partys core support while alienating floating voters.
Hague resigned as leader after a crushing election defeat to Tony Blairs Labour Party in 2001.
Liam Fox (Defence, Conservative):Fox (48) supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although he criticised Labours planning for the conflicts. He wants to renew Britains submarine-launched nuclear weapons and said before the election he would order an immediate review of defence spending if the Conservatives came to power.
Seen as a eurosceptic, Fox says Britains most important relationship is with the US and he has described Nato, not Europe, as the “cornerstone” of its security.
Theresa May (Home secretary, Conservative):After beginning her career at the Bank of England, she moved to the Association for Payment Clearing Services from 1989 to 1997. May (53), was elected to parliament in May 1997 and has been in the shadow cabinet since 1999.
Ken Clarke (Justice, Conservative):An MP for 30 years, Clarke (69) has extensive experience in government having served as both chancellor and home secretary. A former lawyer, he has also previously held the positions of minister for health, education secretary, employment minister and minister for trade and industry.
David Laws (Chief secretary to the treasury, Lib Dem):Educated at Cambridge, he was managing director at Barclays Bank before joining the Liberal Democrats as the parliamentary partys economic adviser in 1994.
Laws (44) was author of the 1994 and 1995 Liberal Democrat alternative budgets. In 2007 he was appointed shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families.
Chris Huhne (Energy and climate change, Lib Dem):A financial and economic journalist for 19 years, Huhne spent six years as a member of the European Parliament before election to British parliament in 2005. Six months later he came runner-up in a contest for leadership of the Lib Dem party.
After unsuccessfully running for leadership of the party again in 2007, he took up the position of shadow home secretary.
Other appointments:Transport, Philip Hammond; Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith; Education, Michael Gove; Health, Andrew Lansley; Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson. – (Reuters)