David Cameron on Coalition Government

David Cameron formed the Cameron–Clegg coalition government on May 11, 2010, after the general election resulted in a hung parliament, leaving his Conservative Party short of an overall majority. This administration was the first full coalition government in the United Kingdom since 1945, pairing Cameron's centre-right Conservatives with the centrist Liberal Democrats led by his Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. The core decision-making body was known as the "Quad," consisting of Cameron, Clegg, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, tasked with resolving major policy disputes and overseeing the coalition's operation. The two parties shared collective responsibility for government positions, though the Coalition Agreement also detailed specific issues where they agreed to differ, with the Liberal Democrats sometimes abstaining from votes.

The coalition undertook significant policy measures, including a programme of public spending restraint to reduce the budget deficit following the global financial crisis, and established the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Within the governing arrangement, tensions occasionally surfaced, notably when Liberal Democrat MPs joined Labour to defeat the government’s timetable motion for the proposed reform of the House of Lords in 2012, leading the Deputy Prime Minister to withdraw support for a related Conservative measure. The government governed for five years, concluding after the 2015 general election, where Cameron subsequently led the Conservatives to form a majority government.