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Clegg To Enter Gov’t, not Foreign Office

David Cameron to be Britain’s prime minister

by
Marc Tracy
May 11, 2010
Tory leader David Cameron, soon to be prime minister.(Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Tory leader David Cameron, soon to be prime minister.(Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

What do you call a person who is perennially described as “dour” on the day that he resigns? Labour Leader Former Labour leader Gordon Brown cried “Uncle!” today, paving the way for the Conservatives to control the British government, and for Tory leader David Cameron to become the first non-Labour prime minister since 1997. The Liberal Democrats are currently negotiating a governing pact with the Tories, but all signs point to one being reached.

Some, including Larry Miller in Tablet Magazine, were concerned about Clegg’s Israel views, particularly since his party would have been a good bet to land the Foreign Office if they entered into a coalition government. However, while this isn’t final, William Hague—a onetime Tory leader—will be the likely Foreign Secretary. In other words, the Lib Dems won’t be running Britain’s diplomacy any time soon.

Meanwhile, Brown also resigned his leadership of the Labour Party. It’s generally thought that the front-runner to replace him is the previous government’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, who is Jewish.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.