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The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
to form a new administration, following the resignation of Prime Minister
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May. It was the UK's first
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
since the
Churchill caretaker ministry The Churchill caretaker ministry was a short-term British government in the latter stages of the Second World War, from 23 May to 26 July 1945. The prime minister was Winston Churchill, leader of the Conservative Party. This government succee ...
in 1945. The coalition was led by Cameron as Prime Minister with Clegg as
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
and composed of members of both Cameron's centre-right
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
and Clegg's centrist Liberal Democrats. The
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
was made up of sixteen Conservatives and five Liberal Democrats, with eight other Conservatives and one other Liberal Democrat attending cabinet but not members. The coalition was succeeded by the single-party,
second Cameron ministry David Cameron formed the second Cameron ministry, the first Conservative majority government since 1996, following the 2015 general election after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new administration. Prior to the election Came ...
after the 2015 election.


History

The previous Parliament had been dissolved on 12 April 2010 in advance of the general election on 6 May. The election resulted in a hung parliament, no single party having an overall majority in the House of Commons, the Conservatives having the most seats but 20 short of a majority. In the
Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement (officially known as The Coalition: Our Programme for Government) was a policy document drawn up following the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom. It formed the terms of referen ...
of 11 May 2010, the two parties formed a coalition government. The new Parliament met on 18 May for the swearing-in of Peers in the House of Lords and newly elected and returning Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and the election for the Speakership of the House of Commons. The
Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...
on 25 May set out the government's legislative agenda. Of the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs, only two refused to support the Conservative Coalition agreement, with former leader
Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...
and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling. The Liberal Democrats had five Cabinet members, including Nick Clegg as
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
– though after the Cabinet and ministerial
reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...
,
David Laws David Anthony Laws (born 30 November 1965) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, in his third parliament he served at the outset as a Cabinet Mini ...
, who was a minister of state, was allowed to attend the Cabinet but was not a full member. If a Liberal Democrat minister resigned or was removed from office, another member of the same party would have had to be appointed to the Cabinet. Each cabinet committee had a chair from one party and a deputy chair from the other; there was also a cabinet committee specifically overseeing the operation of the coalition. Both parties' ministers shared
collective responsibility Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...
for the government's positions, although the coalition agreement detailed several issues on which the parties agreed to differ; the Liberal Democrats abstained from voting in such cases. Clegg, as Deputy Prime Minister, took Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) when Cameron was unavailable. Key decisions were made by a core group called the "Quad", made up of Cameron, Clegg, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and
Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burde ...
Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...
, which decided "all major matters of policy" and resolved disputes between the two parties. While the government's front benchers sat together in the House of Commons and the two parties acted as a bloc during PMQ, the Liberal Democrat and Conservative
backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
s sat apart and each had their own whips, and the two parties competed in by-elections. On 4 September 2012, David Cameron reshuffled his cabinet for the first time. He reshuffled his cabinet for the second time on 14 July 2014.


Cabinets


May 2010 – September 2012


Changes

*
David Laws David Anthony Laws (born 30 November 1965) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, in his third parliament he served at the outset as a Cabinet Mini ...
resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 29 May 2010 because of an expenses irregularity dating from the previous Parliament. He was replaced by
Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...
, who was in turn replaced as Secretary of State for Scotland by Michael Moore. * On 14 October 2011 Liam Fox resigned as Secretary of State for Defence following the procurement of high-level overseas meetings attendance for his friend and advisor,
Adam Werrity Adam Werritty (born 18 July 1978) is a Scottish businessman. Werritty is a friend of the former UK Secretary of State for Defence and ex Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox. He lived for a period in 2002 and 2003 at Fox's Lon ...
, working for a private contractor, and stated that he had "mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred". His successor was
Philip Hammond Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, and Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014. ...
, who was replaced as Transport Secretary by
Justine Greening Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transpor ...
, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who was in turn replaced by
Chloe Smith Chloe Rebecca Smith (born 17 May 1982) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from September to October 2022. She previously served as Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health from 2021 to 2 ...
, an assistant government whip: she was replaced in turn by
Greg Hands Gregory William Hands (born 14 November 1965) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelsea and Fulham, previously Hammersmith and Fulham, since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as ...
. * On 3 February 2012
Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne (born 2 July 1954), known as Chris Huhne, is a British energy and climate change consultant and former journalist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 a ...
resigned as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute him and his former wife. His successor was
Edward Davey Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 t ...
, who was replaced as a
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...
in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills by
Norman Lamb Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committe ...
, replaced in his previous dual roles by
Jenny Willott Jennifer Nancy Willott OBE (born 29 May 1974) is a British politician. She was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cardiff Central from 2005 to 2015. Willott became a junior minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Sk ...
as an Assistant Whip and Jo Swinson as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister.


September 2012 – July 2014


Changes

* On 19 October 2012,
Andrew Mitchell Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, Mitchell was previously the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 19 ...
resigned as Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons following controversy surrounding an argument with police officers in Downing Street. He was replaced by George Young. * On 7 January 2013, Lord Strathclyde resigned as Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was replaced by
Lord Hill of Oareford Jonathan Hopkin Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford, (born 24 July 1960) is a British Conservative politician and former European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. Hill was Leader of the House of Lor ...
. * On 7 October 2013, Michael Moore was replaced as Secretary of State for Scotland by
Alistair Carmichael Alexander Morrison "Alistair" CarmichaelFull name is given as "CARMICHAEL, Alexander Morrison, commonly known as Alistair Carmichael" in the returning officer'2010 general election declaration (born 15 July 1965) is a Scottish politician and s ...
, during a reshuffle which focused on junior ministerial ranks. * On 9 April 2014,
Maria Miller Dame Maria Frances Miller'MILLER, Rt Hon. Maria (Frances Lewis)', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012; online edn, November 2012 ...
resigned as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities. She was replaced as Culture Secretary and Minister for Equalities by
Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
, and by Nicky Morgan as Minister for Women. Morgan, who succeeded Javid as
Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...
, was not a full cabinet member but attended meetings in her role as Minister for Women.


July 2014 – May 2015


Changes

* On 5 August 2014, Baroness Warsi resigned as Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and as Minister for Faith and Community, in protest at the Government's response to the conflict in the Gaza Strip. She was replaced at the Foreign Office by Baroness Anelay of St John's, with Communities and Local Government Secretary
Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 to 2017. He served in David Cameron's Cabinet as Secretary of State f ...
taking on Warsi's former Faith and Community brief.


List of ministers


Prime Minister and Cabinet Office


Departments of State


Law officers


Parliament


See also

*
Fox–North coalition The Fox–North coalition was a government in Great Britain that held office during 1783.Chris Cook and John Stevenson, ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', Macmillan, 1980 As the name suggests, the ministry was a coalition of the groups s ...
*
Home Office under Theresa May Former British Prime Minister Theresa May served as home secretary from 2010 until 2016. As a member of David Cameron's first government May was appointed as Home Secretary on 12 May 2010, shortly after Cameron became prime minister, and contin ...
* Premiership of David Cameron *
Lib–Con pact In British politics, a Lib–Con pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Party (the predecessors to the Liberal Democrats) and the Conservatives. The Liberal and Conservative parties had several working agreements in the first half of t ...
* Lib–Lab pact *
List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 2000–present {{British legislation lists This is an ''incomplete'' list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from its establishment in 1801 up until the present. Lists of Acts by Year * List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1801� ...
* Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband


References


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron-Clegg coalition British ministries
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
Coalition governments of the United Kingdom Ministry 1 Nick Clegg 2010 establishments in the United Kingdom 2010s in British politics Ministries of Elizabeth II Cabinets established in 2010 2015 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Cabinets disestablished in 2015