The final cabinet meeting of the coalition government was held this morning.
The unconventional government structure has led to a complicated political landscape.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said: “I think this five-year coalition Government has shown an alternative way of governing the country and governing the country successfully.”
Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Clegg thanked all the ministers who have served in cabinet since May 2010.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the Conservative-Liberal Democrat partnership had proved coalitions could work and were “a very British way of doing things”.
They took this as an opportunity to reflect on what they had achieved as a coalition government.
Mr Clegg said: “We have taken millions of people on low pay out of paying any income tax, given millions more big income tax cuts by raising the point at which they start to pay income tax.
“We have expanded apprenticeships, we have doubled the number of homes fuelled with renewable electricity, we have targeted money to the education of the poorest children in our schools, we have revolutionised our pension system to make it fair and sustainable. That would not have been possible if the Liberal Democrats had not stepped up to the plate five years ago and created this Government in the first place.”
Before the final cabinet meeting, Mr Clegg told ITV1’s Good Morning Britain that he would put “a healthy bet” on keeping his position as Deputy Prime Minister after the election.
He added: “I think one of the most remarkable things that we have done, the Liberal Democrats that is, is remain united. The pressure that has been put on the Liberal Democrats over the last five years I think would have broken most political parties.”
Mr Clegg declared that he thinks that the era of single-party government is over, as the current coalition held its final cabinet meeting.
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