Summary

  • David Cameron has unveiled his first all-Conservative cabinet

  • Amber Rudd, John Whittingdale, Greg Clark and Robert Halfon all get roles

  • The PM also met Conservative backbenchers for the first time since the election

  • David Miliband criticises his brother's Labour leadership and rules out of the Labour leadership race

  • UKIP rejects Nigel Farage's resignation, meaning he will stay on as leader

  • Labour announced its shadow cabinet, with Chris Leslie replacing Ed Balls as shadow chancellor

  1. Harman: I'm not avoiding the questionpublished at 08:30

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Harriet HarmanImage source, Getty

    Labour didn't seem to speak to enough people, interim Labour leader Harriet Harman tells Today. She's pressed by presenter James Naughtie to explain what she feels went wrong for Labour. But Ms Harman repeatedly insists - much to Naughtie's audible frustration - that it's no good her rushing to a view until the party has assessed "the facts".

    "It's no point me suddenly being the knowledgeable one proclaiming what went wrong when a week ago we weren't predicting this outcome," she tells hims.

    All she will say is that questions about Labour's economic policy and warnings of a Labour-SNP deal played a part in the party's defeat.

    Put to her that it is not unreasonable to ask for her assessment of Labour's campaign and resulting defeat, Ms Harman insists: "I'm not avoiding the questions I'm just saying we've got to look at the facts.

    "It is not easy to suddenly be wise after the event," she adds, saying "I'd rather we'd been wise before the event.."

    She also reiterates a point she made earlier today on BBC Breakfast that people within the party shouldn't be "scapegoating" and playing a "blame game".

  2. Labour post-mortempublished at 08:23 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    The deputy political editor of ITV News...

  3. 'Scrap it'published at 08:22 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    BBC reporter tweets...

  4. UKIP's futurepublished at 08:20 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    The BBC's political correspondent tweets...

  5. All changepublished at 08:18

    Norman Smith
    Assistant political editor

    SNP MPs will arrive in London today for an afternoon photo opportunity with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

    Elections for the position of Westminster leader will take place tomorrow, but it's understood the incumbent, Angus Robertson, is not being challenged for the leadership of his party in the Commons.

    There had been speculation that Alex Salmond might seek the position. However, it's understood Mr Robertson will be re-elected unopposed and has received the private support of Mr Salmond.

    The SNP will take up the seats normally reserved for the Liberal Democrats in the Commons.

    They will also take over the third party whips' office which has been run by the Lib Dems for nearly a century.

    SNP sources say they will be removing all the old photos of Gladstone and other Liberal leaders.

  6. Speedy Sampublished at 08:15

    Samantha CameronImage source, Getty

    She's known for being at the cutting edge of fashion, but is Samantha Cameron about to start a new transport trend as well? In case you missed it, the PM's wife arrived back in Downing Street on Saturday riding a scooter.

  7. Angus Robertson to remainpublished at 08:08 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    The BBC's assistant political editor tweets...

  8. Questions to answerpublished at 08:07 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    A former Labour spin doctor tweets...

  9. Wake up with Nigel?published at 08.08

    Nigel FarageImage source, ITV

    Nigel Farage has just been on Good Morning Britain where he disputed any suggestion he's pulled a bit of a fast one by promising to quit as UKIP leader if he lost in Thanet South but then not ruling himself out of running again. "I can't say whether I will or will not stand. I have at this moment in time absolutely no idea," he insisted, adding: "There are plenty more things in life I could do." Asked what those might be by presenters Ben Shepherd and Susanna Reid, Mr Farage replied: "I might have a go at applying for your job."

  10. Cabinet rumourspublished at 08:01 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    The deputy political editor of the Financial Times tweets...

  11. Labour 'not compelling or convincing'published at 07:59

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Alistair DarlingImage source, Getty Images

    Labour had "no economic policy" and was not convincing in the eyes of voters during the election campaign, according to former chancellor Alistair Darling.

    Mr Darling - who stood down as an MP at the general election - told Today the party was in a worse position now than in 1992 as the future of the country "is at stake".

    He also said Labour failed to defend its record in government, adding it was "absolute rubbish" when some effectively conceded they had achieved nothing in 13 years.

    Quote Message

    You've got to have confidence about what you did in the past just as the courage to admit where you got things wrong - but we just didn't look compelling and convincing."

  12. From the former European Commission presidentpublished at 07:57 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    The Guardian writer tweets...

  13. 'We should be terrified'published at 07:54

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Sounding a warning about what he sees as the dangers of a majority Conservative government, Tim Farron says some of the parties proposed policies - on communications data retention and scrapping the Human Rights Act, for example - pose "key challenges" to basic civil liberties "that we should be absolutely terrified by". There's never been more need for a liberal party in this country, he adds, echoing the words of Nick Clegg in his resignation speech.

  14. 'Utterly devastating'published at 07:50

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Tim FarronImage source, PA

    Lib Dem president and frontrunner for the party leadership Tim Farron says there's no putting a gloss on the fact that losing so many MP has been "utterly devastating". We knew it'd be difficult but not as tough as it has been, he tells 5 Live.

    He underlines the need to rebuild the party "from the bottom up", but on a more optimistic note he says the party has seen its membership increase since the election, with the Lib Dems now "the fastest growing party" in Britain.

    Mr Farron stands by Nick Clegg's decision to take the party into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 - and, quoting Joni Mitchell, he says perhaps the party's new members indicate it's a case of "you don't know what you've got til it's gone". Presenter Nicky Campbell throws a Mitchell line of his own back at him, saying maybe it's now the case you can fit all the party's MPs "in a big yellow taxi".

  15. Reshuffle: What do we know?published at 07:38

    Cabinet table

    As mentioned a little earlier, David Cameron will be continuing his cabinet reshuffle today, with several posts still to be filled. (Here's our main story)

    Ahead of today, it's already been announced that Michael Gove will be the new justice secretary and Mark Harper the chief whip in Mr Cameron's cabinet.

    Those appointments aside, there's not been much change at the top. The PM has retained a number of his top team, including:

    • Chancellor George Osborne
    • Home Secretary Theresa May
    • Defence Secretary Michael Fallon
    • Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond
    • Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith
    • Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (who is also equalities minister)
    • Leader of the Lords Baroness Stowell of Beeston
  16. IDS 'not an intellectual giant'published at 07:35 British Summer Time 11 May 2015

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    David MellorImage source, AFP

    Iain Duncan Smith has been reappointed as work and pensions secretary by David Cameron, but former Conservative minister David Mellor doesn't seem to be a fan. He says Mr Duncan Smith was one of the principal thorns in John Major’s side and might be again for this Conservative prime minster.

    “His capacity to mess things up has not diminished over the years…” Mr Mellor says.

    He’s also pretty scathing of IDS’s suitability for the work and pensions brief.

    “I don’t know that he’s quite gifted enough to pull this off… it is going to be very difficult to do… but no-one would accuse him of being an intellectual giant… and the job of work and pensions requires a really high grade brain.”

    Mr Mellor says there’s “a bit of the cowardly lion about Dave” - David Cameron, to you and me - and he should have sent IDS to be leader of the Commons and given work and pensions to Sajid Javid.

    “If anyone could deal with that social security brief he could,” and he’s clearly “a fish out of water” as culture secretary, the former minister argues. One of the reasons he thinks Mr Javid is suitable is his own family story - his parents were immigrants who started in this country with virtually nothing. “Javid's family were absolutely part of the deserving poor, Duncan Smith’s were not.”

  17. 'Soul searching'published at 07:34

    BBC Breakfast

    Jim MurphyImage source, PA

    On Scotland, Harriet Harman says the party has got a lot of "soul searching" to do. Pressed over whether Jim Murphy should remain as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Ms Harman says there is "a lot of discussion to be had" and adds that she wants to hear what Scotland is saying. It's not for me to be saying what should happen, she tells BBC Breakfast. But she pays tribute to Mr Murphy whom she says worked "incredibly hard".

  18. Harman: We need to look at the factspublished at 07:27

    BBC Breakfast

    Is it important for Labour to be clear on the question, 'Where do you think things went wrong?' Different things happened in different parts of the country, says Harriet Harman, "and I know there was a big concern about what we were saying about the economy" as well as Conservative warnings of a potential deal with the SNP.

    "But what we need to do is to look at the actual facts," she says, adding that she's commissioned work to look at voting patterns throughout the country.

    Did the party go too far to the left? The interim Labour leader says the party knows the scale of the defeat "but there is no point anecdoting and jumping to conclusions". She says a "proper debate" is needed but stresses that it must be based "on facts".

  19. 'One person, one vote'published at 07:24

    BBC Breakfast

    Harriet Harman points out that the process for electing a new Labour leader will be different this time round, because of a rule change by Ed Miliband when he was leader. It is now one person, one vote, "which is a very important change".

    Read more about the changesMr Miliband made to this system.

  20. Harman: Election loss 'disappointing'published at 07:18

    BBC Breakfast

    Harriet Harman

    Harriet Harman, interim Labour leader, states perhaps the blindingly obvious - that Labour lost the election, something she describes as "very disappointing indeed".

    She says the party wanted to be in government - but adds that it still has an important role to play as the official opposition. Ms Harman says the Conservatives have made a lot of promises - on the NHS and childcare, for example - and Labour must hold them to account on that.