Theresa may

In his interview on the Today programme this morning, Philip Hammond said nothing memorable - which Mr S finds a relief. It's about time that this job went back to being that of a finance minister, not a poseur itching to move to No10. The Today programme is listened to by six million people; by the end, Hammond had probably sent at least two million back to sleep. Mishal Hussein decided to try some quick-fire questions, to see if that would solicit something more interesting. Her gambit worked. What will he do about runways? 'Well, on the decision about the location of London's third, arm, London's additional runway that will be a decision now for the new government to make and it will have to make a decision collectively. Obviously we haven't discussed it yet.

Angela Eagle's leadership launch has so far been characterised by one thing: her terrible timing. When she announced her bid to run against Jeremy Corbyn on Monday, journalists abandoned her speech after Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the Tory race at the same moment - leaving Eagle desperately trying to find anyone left in the audience who wanted to actually ask a question. And last night's attempt to try and drum up support in her flailing campaign also came to a halt when the news filtered through that Boris Johnson had been made Foreign Secretary. After taking some time to regain her composure, Eagle told the crowd that the news Boris was in the Foreign Office showed the importance of electing a Labour government.

Theresa May has now finished the task of appointing her Cabinet.

I have just been to Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a new government, and I accepted. In David Cameron, I follow in the footsteps of a great, modern Prime Minister. Under David’s leadership, the Government stabilised the economy, reduced the budget deficit, and helped more people into work than ever before. But David’s true legacy is not about the economy, but about social justice. From the introduction of same sex marriage, to taking people on low wages out of income tax altogether, David Cameron has led a one nation government, and it is in that spirit that I also plan to lead. Because not everybody knows this, but the full title of my party is the Conservative and Unionist Party. And that word unionist is very important to me.

When I first stood here in Downing Street on that evening in May 2010, I said we would confront our problems as a country and lead people through difficult decisions, so that together we could reach better times. It has not been an easy journey, and of course we have not got every decision right, but I do believe that today our country is much stronger. Above all it was about turning around the economy. And with the deficit cut by two-thirds, two and a half million more people in work and one million more businesses, there can be no doubt that our economy is immeasurably stronger. Politicians like to talk about policies, but in the end it is about people’s lives. I think of the people doing jobs who were previously unemployed.

As Tory MPs gathered at St Stephen’s entrance in Parliament to await their new leader on Monday afternoon, a choir in Westminster Hall began to sing. The hosannas spoke to the sense of relief among Tory MPs: they had been spared a long and divisive nine-week leadership contest. A period of political blood-letting brutal even by Tory standards was coming to an end. The United Kingdom would have a new Prime Minister. More than relief, there was hope for the bulk of MPs who had previously not been marked out for advancement. Theresa May’s accession shows that the narrow rules which were thought to govern modern British politics are not hard and fast. May is not one of the shiny people. She isn’t a member of a gilded political set.