Cameron, who took power this week after 13 years of Labour rule, said he would be able to maintain his power-sharing deal with the smaller Liberal Democrats despite the pressing need for public spending cuts and tax rises.
Political rivals, analysts and even some within Cameron’s own centre-right party have raised concerns the two sides’ political views are too far apart for the coalition to succeed.
But Cameron said his alliance with Lib Dems would grow in strength during its scheduled five-year term. “Of course there will be doubters but I believe we can make this work,” he said. “There is a common agenda we want to pursue.”
Unlike many other European countries, Britain is not used to coalition governments — this is its first since 1945 — and the divisions between the main parties are deep and historic.
Former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine predicted the inevitable spending cuts would cause “terrible strains” in the coalition.
“We are living in a false dawn,” he was reported as saying in the Independent newspaper. “The sun is shining. It is not going to last very long... there is a rocky road ahead.”