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Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Cameron's Last Cabinet As May Picks Top Team

David Cameron is to chair his final Cabinet meeting before stepping down as Prime Minister, as his successor Theresa May decides who she will appoint to the top jobs.
It is bound to be an emotional meeting for Mr Cameron, who had expected to stay in 10 Downing Street until early September, as Cabinet colleagues led by Mrs May pay tribute to him.
He will then face MPs in the regular Wednesday session of Prime Minister's Questions for the last time, which is likely to end with applause from MPs, like Tony Blair's last PMQs in 2007.
Mr Cameron will then head to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen in his final act as Prime Minister - after a tearful exit from No 10 with his family, no doubt - before Mrs May makes the same journey and triumphantly arrives in Downing Street.
His abrupt departure, prompted by Andrea Leadsom's bombshell announcement that she was withdrawing from the Conservative leadership contest, means several changes of plans for the departing PM.
He was due to go to Africa on a high-powered trade mission at the end of July, take his children on a final visit to see the royal family at Balmoral in late August, and then take part in a joint farewell from the world stage with Barack Obama at a G20 summit in early September.
Mrs May has already begun talks with senior colleagues and allies about the top roles in her Cabinet.
Her main priority is to appoint her Chancellor, thought likely to be the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, in what could be a job swap with George Osborne.
She will also want to appoint a tough operator to succeed her as Home Secretary, with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and her leadership campaign chief Chris Grayling the leading candidates.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Fallon refused to speculate on his position but said that he had been "proud to work with the Armed Forces" for the last two years.
But she will also want to give top jobs to women ministers, which could mean a promotion to the Home Office for Amber Rudd, who was a star in the TV debates during the referendum campaign.
Many MPs are predicting a return to the frontline for two eurosceptic former ministers and Leave campaigners, Liam Fox and David Davis, who both ultimately backed her for the leadership.
These two could be candidates for the key job of Brexit Minister, negotiating the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, though former leadership rival Mrs Leadsom could also be a candidate for this post.
Opposition parties are already calling for an early election - however, when she launched her campaign for the Tory leadership on 30 June, Mrs May had said: "There should be no general election until 2020."
Mr Fallon said there was no need for a snap election because the Conservatives had won the General Election last year and had a mandate.
This, he said, had been reinforced by the EU Referendum in which people had given the Government a job to do in leaving the bloc. He told Sky News: "We are all now Brexiters".
Political rivals are pointing out that she demanded an immediate election in 2007 when Gordon Brown succeeded Mr Blair, on the grounds that Mr Brown did not have a mandate and was not elected as PM.

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