United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The United Kingdom coalition government is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the coalition agreement setting out a programme for government until the next general election in 2015. The government's stated aim is to introduce widespread reform, and a programme of budgetary cuts in public spending as its response to the massive budget deficit accumulated by the last administration that was attributed to 13 years of overspending and the ongoing global financial crisis. This is the first formal coalition since the National Government during World War II.
Coalition agreement
The initial agreement between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats spelled out eleven key areas on which the coalition would focus.
- Deficit Reduction
- Spending Review - NHS, Schools and a Fairer Society
- Tax Measures
- Banking Reform
- Immigration
- Political Reform
- Pensions and Welfare
- Education
- Relationship with the EU
- Civil liberties
- Environment
A final agreement followed.
Coalition members
Following the general election, negotiations took place between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party, and between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. It became clear that Labour and the Liberal Democrats could not form a coalition government, while David Cameron made a "big, open, comprehensive offer" to the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition with them. Having agreed on a coalition, David Cameron accepted the Queen's invitation to form the government as Prime Minister, with George Osborne as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Hague as the Foreign Secretary, Theresa May as Home Secretary, while other key positions went to Nick Clegg as the Deputy Prime Minister, Liam Fox as Defence Secretary, Michael Gove as Education Secretary, Andrew Lansley as Health Secretary, Vince Cable as Business Secretary and Kenneth Clarke as Justice Secretary. One early resignation from the government was David Laws, initially appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but who quickly announced his departure as it was revealed that he had been claiming rent for a property owned by a man who in actuality was his partner not his landlord.
Policy changes introduced
2010 budget
Public spending cuts
Since forming government, the most significant events have been the results of the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review and the 2010 Defence Review, announced in October 2010.
As a route to reducing the overall budget deficit, and consistent with the Conservative target of reducing the size of the public sector, a number of public bodies funded by government, often known as quangos, have been abolished or merged. By July 2010, a total of 54 such bodies intended to facilitate arts, health, business, education, policing and the environment had either been abolished or had their funding withdrawn. In October 2010 a list of 192 quangos to be abolished was officially released, with 118 to be merged. These include:
A number of agencies including the Student Loans Company and the Central Office of Information were marked 'Under consideration' in the official Government release, subject to future reviews by the end of 2010.
Legislation enacted
See also
References
External links
- Full Text: Conservative-Lib Dem deal BBC News, 12 May 2010
- Interim agreement (pdf)
- Final agreement (pdf)
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_coalition_government_(2010%E2%80%93present)
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