The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government, following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May. It was the UK's first coalition government since the Churchill caretaker ministry in 1945. The coalition was led by Cameron as Prime Minister with Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and composed of members of both Cameron's centre-right Conservative Party and Clegg's centrist Liberal Democrats. The Cabinet 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 following the 2015 election.

History

The previous Parliament had been dissolved on 12 April 2010 in advance of the general election on 6 May. The general election resulted in a hung parliament, no single party having an overall majority in the House of Commons, for the first time in 36 years. The Conservatives emerged having the most seats, but 20 short of an overall majority. In the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement 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 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 and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling. The Liberal Democrats had five Cabinet members, including Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister – though after the Cabinet and ministerial reshuffle, David Laws, 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 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 David 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 Danny Alexander, 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 PMQs, the Liberal Democrat and Conservative backbenchers sat apart and each had their own whips, and the two parties competed in by-elections. On 4 September 2012, 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

September 2012 – July 2014

Changes

July 2014 – May 2015

Changes

List of ministers

Prime Minister and Cabinet Office

Departments of State

Law officers

Parliament