Asked if he’d engineered his return, Nigel Farage tells the BBC: "I walked out of meeting yesterday, scratched my head thinking: how did that happen?

“I hadn’t planned it. I genuinely decided to take the summer off and rethink my life.

“A little bit of me feels downtrodden that I’m back at the helm, but it’s the right thing for the party and the right thing for European debate."

He insists he kept his word and wasn’t like other politicians he’d accused of breaking his promises.

The Daily Politics

On the Daily Politics, just getting under way on BBC Two, Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn will look at the Labour leadership contest with Stella Creasy MP, and the future of the BBC with Conservative MP Philip Davies who sat on the Culture, Media and Sport committee in the last parliament, and the shadow culture secretary, Chris Bryant.

They will also look at the NHS with Dr Sarah Wollaston MP and Chris Ham from the King’s Fund, along with their guest of the day, the former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

Reporter Ellie Price has been to Bedford to see if voters think Labour was too left wing, or not left wing enough, ahead of the election. Watch her film.

Nigel Farage has defended his decision to return as leader of UKIP three days after saying he’d resign.

Mr Farage said he did keep his word to quit after failing to win a Westminster seat but was “persuaded to change his mind” by “overwhelming support” from UKIP’s National Executive Committee.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels, Mr Farage told the BBC:

A short time ago inside Number 10, David Cameron held up a copy of the Conservatives' election manifesto.

"In here is the programme we have the mandate to deliver," he told the cabinet.

He argued that, as the Tories were no longer in a coalition, "there will be proper accountability" and no "trading away" of manifesto commitments.

And with that, the cameras were abruptly switched off and the media pack ushered from the room before further cabinet discussions.

On a day when new Business Secretary Sajid Javid argued for a minimum 50% turnout in strike ballots, the RMT rail union confirms an overwhelming vote for industrial action over Network Rail pay.

The RMT says its members voted by 80% for strike action on a 60% turnout and by 92% for action short of strike action.

The union added:

David Cameron greets his table-banging cabinet ministers, and tells them the Conservatives are "the real party of working people" to cries of assent.

The prime minister says he wants to make sure "the economy works for everybody and every part of our country".

Pictures are just starting to come in from David Cameron's first cabinet meeting. 

BBC News Channel

BBC assistant news editor Norman Smith says Chuka Umunna deliberately chose to announce his leadership bid in Swindon as he believes that "the election was lost... in the English marginals".

The Conservatives held both Swindon North and Swindon South last week.

Norman adds that Mr Umunna believes Labour's fortunes can be turned around in the duration of the current Parliament.

The Daily Politics

An interesting snippet for you. New Sports Minister Tracey Crouch was once booted off the parliamentary football team because she was a woman.

Women's participation alongside men is not allowed under FA rules, which apply to the parliamentary squad. But the MP for Chatham and Aylesford argued girls and women should be encouraged to play the sport.

In 2011 she spoke to the Daily Politics about the rules which stoped her playing football with other MPs.

Chuka Umunna has announced that he will stand for the Labour leadership. Mr Umunna said he had spoken to half of the 80 Labour candidates standing in Tory seats targeted by the party at the election, as well as other MPs, before making his announcement.

On Facebook, Mr Umunna said:, external "I will be standing for the leadership of the party.

"I think we can and should be winning in seats like Swindon.

"North, south, east, west - we can absolutely do it as a party."

He also said he did not believe rebuilding Labour was a 10-year project.

Mr Umunna is the second candidate to declare, following Liz Kendall.

Chuka Umunna confirms he is to stand in the Labour leadership contest.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady responds to the proposals on strike ballots that Sajid Javid referred to this morning.

Ministers want to introduce a requirement for a turnout of at least 50% of members in trade union votes on industrial action.

BBC Radio 4 Today

We're expecting that first cabinet meeting to get going around 11.00 BST. One of those in attendance will be new Business Secretary Sajid Javid. You can listen again to his interview this morning on the Today programme here.