Who's who in the new coalition parliament
11:21 12 May 2010
Five days after the election and numerous discussions behind closed doors and the deal was done.
Marking the end of Labour's 13-year rule, Gordon Brown swiftly departed from No 10 as prime minister and David Cameron swooped in.
But with the first coalition government in 70 years, who has been appointed in the all-important roles and what say do the Liberal Democrats have in the new parliament?
Here we have the essential guide to the major players in the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
Prime minister – David Cameron
Party allegiance - Conservative
The Tory leader won the largest share of vote in the general election, but just fell short of the majority.
Before becoming the head of the Conservatives in 2005, Cameron was virtually unknown outside of Westminster
Now he is the new prime minister and judging by the number of votes he seems to be the only one with public backing to take on the challenging role.
Deputy prime minster – Nick Clegg
Party allegiance – Liberal Democrats
Since becoming MP for Sheffield in 2005, followed by a promotion to Europe spokesman, before moving on to the home affairs role and swiftly after party leader in 2007, Clegg has risen to the top as the man to take the Lib Dems to new heights.
Clegg may have suffered a blow at the poll stations despite opinion polls suggesting he may come out on top, but he was the one holding all the cards as the election result was announced and plans for a coalition government looked promising.
Despite actually losing seats, the Lib Dems had retained enough MPs to become the vital players in the hung parliament.
Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osbourne
Party allegiance - Conservative
One of Cameron's closest allies and friends, Osbourne (nicknamed "Tory Boy") rose rapidly after becoming MP for Tatton in 2001.
Michael Howard promoted him from shadow chief secretary to the Treasury to shadow chancellor in May 2005, at the age of 34.
He now has landed this crucial role at the Treasury, emulating the Labour Brown/Blair duo, and will become pivotal to the plans to solve Britain's spending deficit and deal with the recession. At 38, his is the youngest person to sit in the role for 125 years.
Home Secretary – Theresa May
Party allegiance - Conservative
The former City worker has become only the second woman to fill the hard-hitting role.
From 2002 to 2003 she also became the first woman to become Conservative Party chairman, under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith.
She has also moved from her post from the shadow cabinet to become minister for women and equality in the same role.
Foreign secretary – William Hague
Party allegiance – Conservative
Since he returned to the shadow cabinet in 2005, Hague has become a key adviser to Cameron, and was seen as de facto deputy party leader.
With a history of being the party leader himself between 1997 and 2001 and shadow foreign secretary until the election, Hague has plenty of experience to draw from.
Defence secretary – Dr Liam Fox
Party allegiance – Conservative
The former GP, who previously served as health secretary under Iain Duncan Smith and William Hague, came third in the race to become leader of the Conservatives in 2005, presenting himself as a candidate of the right.
Health secretary – Andrew Lansley
Party allegiance – Conservative
Taking charge of the ever-scrutinised NHS, the former civil servant's history as a Tory dates back to the1980s when he worked as private secretary to Norman Tebbit.
He was considered one of the main architects of the shock Conservative election victory in 1992, but was equally attributed to their disastrous 2001 campaign.