These past few weeks have been without precedent in UK politics, and the last seven days have looked very positive in terms of your coalition, language and approach.
I think that most people in the country, regardless of how they voted, are ready to give you a chance to prove you have indeed put the nation’s needs before party politics.
It is now time to move beyond what you say, to what you do, and in that, we are looking for strong, clear, role-model leadership at every stage. Take whatever tough decisions you need to take, just be sure to tell us what you are doing, when and why – in clear words that everyone can understand.
And throughout, please keep reminding us of the two bigger pictures:
The picture of fear: Our country is financially bust. To overcome our overall debt, we would have to close down the police force (ten times), and you know that over the last twelve months we paid as much in interest as we did on defence. The aim must be to get out of the national mindset that it’s ok to be constantly in debt.
And the picture of hope: Our country is great. We have new companies and entrepreneurs starting up every day, who must be encouraged, we have some of the most successful business leaders in the world, and our public services are second to none.
Balancing these two agendas will take a level of leadership rarely seen anywhere in the world – I wish you well.
David