Well, it's finally happened. Labour has bowed to the inevitable and called off talks with the LibDems. Gordon Brown will apparently resign the office of Prime Minister tonight and David Cameron will travel up the Mall tomorrow morning (or perhaps even tonight) to kiss hands with the Queen.
At last.
That is, barring any unforeseen problems with ratification of the coalition deal by LibDem MPs or their Federal Executive. I think both bodies will realise that if they play silly buggers, the electorate would take a long time to forgive them.
The negotiations have been tortuous, but maybe that was inevitable. The Conservatives have conceded a huge amount to get this far. The LibDems never expected them to offer a referendum on AV.
The rumour going round College Green is that the LibDems will get six Cabinet seats, which is two more than I would have thought they would be entitled to. There is no word on what they will be, but my tip about Nick Clegg being Deputy Prime Minister looks a good bet.
I also suggested that the electorate would love to see a Treasury team of Ken Clarke as Chancellor and Vince Cable as Chief Secretary. Nick Robinson has heard rumours that this might indeed happen, although another senior political journalist I talked to reckoned that Vince wouldn't accept that job. If it happened it would mean George Osborne moving to the Business portfolio.
If there are four more LibDem Cabinet Ministers I suspect they will be Chris Huhne, David Laws, Simon Hughes and Danny Alexander. Alexander is very wet behind the ears and his appointment would put many LibDem noses out of joint, I suspect. I'm also not sure about Simon Hughes, but Clegg may feel the need to reach out to the left of his party. Which jobs will they get? No idea. Or could we see Lord Ashdown in the Cabinet - perhaps as Northern Ireland or Defence Secretary.
There will be several disappointed Conservatives tomorrow, who had expected to get Cabinet jobs, but won't. I won't name the ones I expect to be dropped, but they will be obvious to many. Clearly William Hague will take on the Foreign Office. The Home Office is less clear. Chris Grayling will be devastated if he is dropped, but I'm afraid he may well be. Hot rumour is that a return from David Davis may be on the cards, assuming Nick Clegg doesn't take the job himself. Alternatively, Michael Gove or Theresa May could be in the running.
There are rumourson Twitter that David Laws might take over at Health, which would be a bit off considering David Cameron has guaranteed the job to Andrew Lansley. But I won't indulge in more speculation until I get some clear steers on what may happen.
The best thing about today is that is means that we finally get to see the back of Mandelson and Campbell. Yesterday they attempted to launch a pseudo-coup. Thank God it failed. Labour people were too sensible to be dragged along with it and credit is due to John Reid, David Blunkett and others for pointing out that it couldn't work.
Mandelson and Campbell are both very talented people. But they have presided over a culture of conducting politics in a very underhand manner. I may be naive but I hope things will be very different under the new government.
Well, David Cameron and his negtotiating team seems to have got there in the end. Cameron has done well to take his entire Parliamentary team along with him - with not a single MP appeariing on the media to cause trouble. Long may it continue.
I don't know about you, but I feel very excited by what is happening. And I don't mind admitting to being slightly wistful that I am not part of it. Except, I suppose I am, but in a different way to which I had intended. However, being outside the tent may be even more interesting than being inside it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
Whatever happens, it means a new era for the country and the Conservative Party. It will also spell a new era for this blog. And I will explain what that means at a later date. When I've worked it out myself!
