On May 6, 2010 Britons went to the polls to decide who will lead them as Prime Minister, after the tumultuous impact of the Global economic recession. The Election was exciting thrilling as the three major Contestants slugged it out, appealing to voters with their oratory prowess, campaign promises, economic strategies, and foreign policy directions. The Contestants were Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the Labour Party, Mr David Cameron of the Conservative Party and Mr. Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats Party.
At the end of the Elections, David Cameron won the Elections after he also succeeded in wooing Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition for the new Government and also emerging as the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1812, saddled with the responsibility of moving the United Kingdom Forward and reposition it as a Key player in International Politics and Economy.
His Predecessor Gordon Brown resigned after the Elections, due to the inconsistencies that has trailed his leadership of the Labour Party and the style and manner he administered the affairs of the United Kingdom Economy, Foreign Relations and Public Sector reforms caused Brown to have more critics than the initial admirers of his reform plans for the UK economy.
Compared to his tenure as Chancellor of Exchequer in 1997, when he was credited for moral prudence, leading economic expansion, avoiding UK’S integration into the Eurozone and strategic Economic reforms that put UK as a Leading Global economic player, Brown’s entry as Prime Minister in 2007,witnessed a different leadership direction for the UK political economy.
According to William Hague Conservative party Senior Member(Shadow Foreign Secretary),the Gordon Brown Leadership witnessed a “Catastrophic Stewardship” of the UK economy, which has moved UK downward from second to twelfth place in the International League of competitiveness according to the World Economic Forum.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown now admitted for the first time in an ITV television interview, that he conceded to pressure from the City and failed to regulate the Banks properly.The crisis has cost taxpayers tens of billions of pounds. RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) and Lloyds Banking Group came close to collapse and Northern Rock and Bradford &Bingley had to be nationalized.
This contributed to Brown’s unpopularity ahead of the UK May elections, which Brown Lost unfortunately to the Conservative/Liberal Democrats coalition and offcourse had to say goodbye to 22 Downing street and welcome on board a New, and Fresh Leadership.
With the entry of David Cameron as the Prime Minister, it may allude to the fact that intelligence and oratory prowess may have become the real tonic and verve for anybody aspiring to be a President or Prime Minister of a country in the 21st century, because President Obama had Oratory prowess and offcourse displaced Sen John McCain to become American President. The Brown Brown tenure witnessed a lot of challenges and crisis , from the Postal Workers’ strike in 2009, British Airways workers’ strike in 2010, and also the early 2009 strike of UK contractors in Multinationals who were protesting the Dominance of foreigners in the Multinational oil companies.
The Global economic meltdown which was acute in 2009, saw 50,000 Britons lose their jobs as at January, 2009.Which led to the Request of the Bank of England Governor Meryl King in March,2009 to purchase eligible assets to the tune of $75bl, to safeguard the economy from any collapse.
David Cameron (Conservative Party Leader), has promised to bring responsible leadership to UK political economy, bringing UK out of the doldrum to a stable, reliable and vibrant economy.He lambasted the Labour Party for irresponsibility, lack of accountability and improper leadership of the UK Economy and Public Sector reforms.
Now the talk and oratory prowess is over, and its time for action, and Prime Minister David Cameron has a lot in his hands alongside his Deputy Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democratic party.This is the First Coalition Government in many years and the ability for the coalititon to pull through their plural, and diverse ideologies and inclinations to give Britons good leadership.
The big test for the Foreign Relations skills of David Cameron with William Hague taking over as Foreign secretary, will be to improve British relations with the United States of America, and reposition the UK as a key player in the Market Economy, as the country has experience a slow decline in international relevance and had in the past four years, become a poor strategist Nation in Trade relations and competitiveness amongst nations.
As for the Economy the Appointment of George Osborne as the New Chancellor of Exchequer would come at a crucial time for the UK Economy where the UK budget deficit will be reduced by a difficult decision to reduce budget spending of $6bn, hoping that UK is insulated from the Austerity flu brooding over Europe, which is capable of bringing a catastrophic impact on the Uk Public sector reforms.
Beyond the Oratory prowess British Prime Minister David Cameron , will need ‘Courage’, to face the challenges of the UK, and lead it back to the position of a leading player in the League of Nations, acting with the mentality of an optimist who sees ‘Opportunities in every Difficulty’, and crisis as a way of giving a nation Direction.
David Cameron will now have to take responsibility for the future of the Britons, and forget about criticizing the past mistakes of the Labour Party because dwelling on thepast may inhibit his ability to see prospects and opportunities to move Britain forward.
Also Prime Minister David Cameron and his team, will have to be more strategic in their plans for the Economy, the Defence Policy covering Britains involvement in the War in Afghanistan and Iraq, alongside international alliances NATO,OECD,G-20,G-8,ODA assistance, and various Global regional and regional commitments made over the years.
The young British Tory Prime Minister has critics, who feel and have analyzed that his coalition will not survive the Five year term and they he will only talk but would not be able to perform as expected, and I must say that I really like the way he talks and analyzes issues and I hope it will translate to real action and successful Governance.
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