LATEST : David Cameron has just left Buckingham Palace and is now Prime Minister, having formally signed the agreement with the Queen. He has arrived at 10 Downing Street, place of dreams.

ON THE SPEECH : There are “Deep pressing problems”,but Cameron has decided to form a “proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats” and “put aside party differences”, “to take difficult decision”  and form a “strong government, to “rebuild trust in our political system”, reforming parliament and ensuring that politicians are always “their servants and not their masters.” He asks us to be responsible to our country, and to have a sense of duty, and that “those who can should” and that “we will always provide for those who cannot.” He wants to build a society of “freedom, fairness, and responsibility,” by rebuilding our communities.

It has finally happened. At this very moment Gordon Brown is on his way to speak to the Queen, only minutes away from handing over power to a Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition, which David Cameron will lead. It remains to be seen what the terms of the agreed deal are, and the Liberal Democrats federal executive committee still does not meet until 9.30pm and he requires a 75% majority, but it has become evident that the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have agreed some sort of a deal. He has spent a while with the Queen, explaining the process to the Queen, and how he will form a majority.

Gordon Brown’s departing words where “I wish the next prime minister well as he makes the important choices for the future. Only those who have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities and its great capacity for good. I have been privileged to learn much about the very best in human nature and a fair amount too about its frailties – including my own.” He made a gracious exit, with his two sons and wife with him, and has quickly been greeted with good wishes from members of the press and MPs.

The deal still has to be ratified tonight at 9.30pm, and Simon Hughes, a senior member of the Liberal Democrats, stated that “I will use my head rather than my heart, and if it’s something I believe will deliver the sort of more liberal and more democratic future that I’ve fought for for 30 years or more then I’d be prepared to support it.” But the question still remains as to the nature of the deal, despite many Conservatives being highly optimistic about it. The draft agreement included a fixed-term parliament of three years or more and an agreement by the Liberal Democrats not to vote against them while they are in power. There is also said to be no tax now on the first £10,000 one earns according to Lord Carlile. Whether this is in the final agreement remains to be seen.

Labour will begin its search for a new leader over the coming months, but it is expected to take until July.  Harriet Harman will now be Acting Leader of the Labour Party. Already the spin has begun from Labour, as Peter Mandelson excused the loss, saying Labour had had”a good, long innings”, whilst Ed Balls pointed to their losing the election as a fault of Gordon Brown supporting the country rather than focusing on politics often.

The question now to be asked is what to expect from the new leader. We’ll be reviewing key points of the manifesto shortly when the deal is announced. Comment below or follow us on twitter.

“The idea that the two parties that suffered most in this election, that were rejected by the electorate, that in the case of the Labour party lost a hundred of its seats, should put together an illegitimate government, this is the Robert Mugabe style of politics,” says Conservative MP and former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind. “It’s exactly what Mugabe did you know, he lost the election and scrabbled to hold onto power.” But that is the way Senior Liberal Democrats are attempting to pull Nick Clegg, despite him being one of the most right leaning Liberal Democrats in modern history. Unfortunately Labour members from Jim Fitzpatrick to a prominent scottish labour mp, as yet unnamed have expressed doubt in the ability of their party to form a workable coalition.

In terms of the Labour Leadership contest, Harriet Harman appears to have bowed out, saying that as Deputy Leader she cannot stand for Leader of the Labour Party, though it is unclear whether this means she intends to step down, as some have suggested. David Milliband is still the favourite, with some newspapers suggesting that Ed Miliband will also stand, either to help his brother by splitting the left, or with the real intention of becoming Leader of the Labour Party.

In other election news last night’s take back parliament protest went well, and the leaders are pushing the idea that they have been successful as “Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats heard our voices that proportional representation must be part of any coalition deal. They have now begun formal negotiations with the Labour Party, who may be inclined to offer this essential reform if the Tories refuse.” They also are cheered by the Tories offer of an Alternative Vote Referendum.

As Tory-Lib Dem talks move further on, Brown has finally announced that he will step down. It will perhaps signal the hope of a new wave to Lib-Lab talks which may even lead to a new coalition, though that seems unlikely considering its dependence on nationalist parties which may well cost them dear. Nick Clegg has finally agreed to set up official, formal talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Now the challenge is for Labour to decide upon a new leader who can pull the Liberal Democrats away from Labour. Constitutionally, the argument goes that an unelected Labour Prime Minister would not be unconstitutional as we have a parliamentary democracy whereby we vote for our local candidate who joins part of a block in parliament that elects a leader to speak for it, rather than the public electing a leader in the same style as a presidential democracy. Obviously the criticism is that after the TV debates and the past few years developments in politics, people vote more and more for the Leader and the party than just the party and its candidate.

But it is necessary to remember that Labour now lack a leader which it will take a while to elect democratically from within the party and the two parties together lack a majority. The ultimate sacrifice for the coalition or a vain gesture in the hope of keeping his party in power?

Fantasy Cabinet anyone? Tweet us, or comment below.

Amid emerging news that Liberal Democrat negotiators met with Labour, alongside this is the new developing story that at 5pm today Liberal Democrats will meet to once and for all decide just how important fair votes are, not just for themselves but for the people of this country. Anyone who feels strongly on this matter should join the waiting crowd outside The Work Foundation, at 21 Palmer Street wearing purple.

On a broader note, an increasing number of Liberal Democrats have been debating the renewed possibility of Lib-Lab time-limited coalition, though the obvious objection regarding the sacrifices that would have to be made to the nationalist parties has once again been raised. Dr Richard Grayson, former Lib Dem policy director said that “Any deal with Labour would have to be time-limited. I think, for example, if a deal could be done for two years that would allow emergency measures to be taken on the public finances, that would allow a referendum on electoral reform and some re-drawing of boundaries, the people would know that they’re going to get a chance to vote [after that].” But many of the Labour MPs have unfortunately been quoted as thinking that Gordon Brown has ‘blown’ his chance of forming a parliament, by simply sitting there waiting.

The obvious question to ask now is simply, what would Tony Blair do? As ex-prime minister, despite dropping lower and lower in the polls and in parliament before he resigned, has never failed to be dynamic and charming. He was truly a love-hate character in a way that the PM never was, and it was clear that had he stood for election once more, he would either have been thumpingly beaten on account of the two wars, or he would have been heralded from the roof tops, and perhaps even increased his majority. But even if he had not managed either of those two things, considering his relationship with the Liberal Democrats he certainly would have been first to be approached by them, and would never have suffered the humiliation that Brown must now face as he waits in Parliament for the phone call that will tell him his fate.

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Tomorrow dawns a bright and brilliant new day in British Politics. The Liberal Democrats stand ready to consult the rank and file about the proposed Lib-Con coalition. Whilst we don’t know anything about the deal it’s been evident since this morning through the language Clegg and the two parties have been using that some kind of conclusion is being reached.

David Cameron has been addressing his shadow cabinet perhaps warning them of any potential job losses and the exact nature of the detail, with William Hague and the negotiating team having just arrived. Earlier today Nick Clegg met the prime minister to update him on the nature of talks, and perhaps to finally tell him that it was time to walk the plank.

But the critical thing is whether or not the rank and file of the Liberal Democrats will agree. Jane Watkinson a prolific liberal democrat blogger had this to say “Well, personally, if Clegg continues these talks and actually does what it appears he is going to do – and that is back the Tories – he hasn’t listened to us. He has stabbed his party members in the back, most of who have campaigned on policies that are essential for political reform. If he joins the Tories, all those hopes and aspirations will die, it, in my opinion, will start the destruction of this party.” Many people have voiced the same concerns, but the real question is how many in number they are, considering that Lord Paddy Ashdown and several other MPs have continued to voice concerns about the scale of the debt and the importance of tackling it. Now that this issue becomes more and more tantamount, perhaps people will vote in an attempt to deal with the deficit, rather than with their hearts.

It looks like there’ll be no more news for today, but the parties have already decided what will happen, and now it’s time for their members to say yes or no. Are you a member of the Liberal Democrats? Which will you say? Comment below or add us on twitter.

“I cannot believe that anyone who forms a government can be deaf to the calls of the people for Proportional Representation”  Lord Ashdown, former Liberal Democrat Leader. Yet Nick Clegg’s priorities seemed to be arranged in a different order. First is Tax reform, followed closely by improving education, and then sorting out the banks. Political Reform, and not even Proportional Representation, comes a pithy fourth despite the huge protest which Nick Clegg addressed yesterday. To the assembled crowd he said, ”We don’t like these negotiations going on behind closed doors. The votes that people cast on Thursday should have given us a coalition government…We need a consensus government to deal with the difficult choices we have ahead. That’s what the British people voted for.”

The Scottish National Party have called for a Lib-Lab Coalition, and promised alongside Plaid Cymru to stand with them, and the SDLP traditionally would join with Labour, giving them in total an extra 12 seats which would take them to 327 against the Conservatives 318.

There are of course many commentators calling for this to end swiftly in order to calm the markets, so there will be a great pressure on Mr Clegg to join the Conservatives today, if he ever will, which looks increasingly more likely, unless Gordon Brown resigns as he should have done at the end of the election. The right to form parliament still might have come to him, and politically he would have been in a much more credible position.

Also later today : The Liberal Democrats meet to decide once and for all! (We hope)

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In a move hailed by many as the greatest play for power of the past century, Cameron has decided to begin outlining his plans to form government at 14.30.  Having looked at the individual seats it seems certain that Cameron will reach his total of 306. Whether he can expand on it is anyone’s guess, but his decision to outline his plans shows that he has something up his back pocket, like for example the rumoured 10 seats in Northern Ireland.

Not only does it show that he has something in his hand, it will also force the question of the legitimacy of a Labour attempt to take power, and most likely lead to a defeat at any forthcoming general election, which there is likely to be due to the small majority the Conservatives would be able to reach.

The Liberal Democrats are still trying to ascertain what Cameron is offering, and a meeting on Sunday should decide whether whatever is proposed is accepted. Proportional Representation is the price. There are other offers that could be on the table such as fixed term parliaments.

Yet none of that is enough. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat policies are at odds, with their priorities differing vastly. Green Issues, Non-doms and a Mansion tax, are three things the Lib Dems stand for, and the Tories against. One represents a party of Europhiles, and the other of Eurosceptics. Reconciling those differences, considering that in terms of vote share 39.1% of the coalition’s electors would be Liberal Democrats, will be so key that a parliament is unlikely to be formed efficiently or quickly. The Tories have long been divided over Cameron’s shift closer to Labour, and this could truly emphasise that shift, perhaps in extreme resulting in certain MPs revolting to UKIP.

Gordon Brown remains ‘prime ministerial’ according to the BBC and continues to talk about fairness, though whether this message is being received is still unclear. The electorate have not yet answered anyone’s call.

How long will Gordon's grin/grimace remain?

Just five months ago, the Conservative party was holding an apparently unassailable lead over Labour of around 19%. All of the newspapers were backing a landslide victory by the Tories in the General election. Even the Sun newspaper, a renowned backer of the Labour party, left their ranks and joined the growing swell of conservative followers, denouncing them at every opportunity. It even surprised me that they didn’t give every page 3 girl a tattoo saying ‘Vote Tory’ on their left breast.

Five months ago, David Cameron could sit back and laugh while Gordon Brown committed political suicide again and again, whether it be from his poor letter writing skills, or his smile that could make Wayne Rooney cringe in disgust. ‘Have I got news for you’ even stated that ‘Gordon Brown had a bad week’ was the closest thing they had to a catchphrase. Five months on however, the picture is very different. The gap, according to YouGov has been marginalised so that less people would notice it than those on the Underground. That gap is now just a 6% lead. If an election was held tomorrow, a hung parliament would be the most likely outcome with no party winning am outright majority . This last happened in 1973 with Harold Wilson and Labour eventually calling another election which produced their victory. It is unlikely that any of the three major parties would form a coalition government with each other as Nick Clegg has ruled out joining with Labour, and the price would be too high for the Conservatives, as a crucial Lib Dem policy would mean that the Conservative Government would never be able to gain a majority again.

  How did Labour manage to claw this far back into the running? The last time that Labour had a lead over the Conservatives was way back in January 2008. This shows that the crucial factor could have been the Credit Crunch, which the ruling party would naturally have been blamed for. This has now apparently come to an end, though surely people would have blamed Labour for us coming out of it last? The reason could be that Gordon Brown has somehow managed to be so dislikeable that people have started to pity the poor Premier of our nation. He has still been committing political suicide regularly, being caught in a grumpy mood and then putting on a huge smile as he neared the cameras (which with him is quite difficult to distinguish), even bullying his staff. Yet people don’t seem to care anymore whom we have representing our country at the top level… it’s all too similar to the John Terry affair. Why is John Terry cheating his team-mate any different to Gordon cheating his economy, his country, and then committing domestic abuse against the people who run his day to day life? I don’t understand it. At this rate, our parliament is going to be hung; no one will gain a majority so we are going to have another general election called by the Queen. Eventually, a winner will be ground out. I just hope it isn’t Labour, Gordon Brown has a smile that makes my brothers cry… and they’re all over twenty.