DAVID and Samantha Cameron had a group hug with their children as they said goodbye to their family home at No. 10 to make way for new Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip.
Advertisement
May will be Queen Elizabeth’s 13th prime minister in a line that started with Winston Churchill.
Soon afterward the palace released a photo of May curtseying to the monarch at the palace.
In the traditional change of government ceremony, Cameron met the queen at the palace and recommended that the monarch invite May – his successor as Conservative Party leader – to form a new government.
Here are five things to know about Wednesday’s formal handover of prime ministerial power in Britain from David Cameron to Theresa May. I know because we’re Great Britain that we will rise to the challenge.
Cameron said he was leaving the country stronger and better off than he had found it and wished his successor luck in her negotiations for Britain leave the European Union – the issue that caused his demise.
The SNP’s 54 MPs remained seated and motionless as Cameron received a standing ovation from his own Tory benches and seated applause from the Labour Party Opposition after his final Parliamentary session as prime minister.
“Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it. After all, as I once said, I was the future once”.
But she has said the process should not be launched before the end of year, to give time for Britain to draw up its negotiating strategy.
He found time to congratulate Wimbledon victor Andy Murray and other British players there, and rebuffed rumors that he does not like Downing St.’s resident cat, Larry – “I do!”
Speaking in a packed Parliament, with lawmakers, media, aides and spectators jammed into every corner of the ornate debating chamber, Cameron answered questions with the air of a man looking forward to an afternoon off.
“I was the future once”, Cameron quipped as he left office.
Mr Cameron concluded: “For me politics has always been about public service in the national interest”.
As home secretary, the 59-year-old May has been in charge of immigration and law and order for the past six years.
May will seek to calm the country, and the financial markets, after upheaval following the unexpected result in the June 23 referendum.
On a more serious note, Cameron said that he cared passionately about the United Kingdom, but added that “we need to make sure as we leave the European Union, how we keep the benefits of the common travel area”.
May is expected to begin appointing new Cabinet ministers as early as Wednesday evening – including a “Brexit” minister to oversee talks on a British EU exit from the 28-nation EU.
May appointed David Davis to a newly-created secretary of state role in which he will manage Britain’s exit from the European Union.
“He asks about the record of this government when it comes to Scotland, well I’ll tell him what it is – 143,000 more people in work in Scotland, massive investment in the renewable industries in Scotland, the two biggest war ships ever built in our history built in Scotland, a powerhouse parliament, a referendum that was legal, decisive and fair and, I might add, a Scotsman winning Wimbledon twice while I was prime minister”.
There is also speculation that May, Britain’s second female prime minister – after Margaret Thatcher – will boost the number of women in top posts.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve our country as prime minister over these last six years, and to serve as leader of my party for nearly 11 years”, he said.
There were concerns that Larry could be homeless when the keys to 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s office, are handed over to incoming Theresa May later Wednesday.
Advertisement
Cameron once derided Juncker as a Brussels backroom bureaucrat and tried to block him from becoming commission president.
