Cabinet Pays Tributes To Cameron As Teresa May Leads UK

Mrs May will become Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoon. First Mr Cameron will face MPs in his last Prime Ministers Questions before heading to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen.

Mrs May will then make the same journey before arriving back in Downing Street.

Theresa May led tributes to David Cameron at an "emotional" final Cabinet meeting.

Mrs May, who posed for photographers on her way in through the door of No 10, and Chancellor George Osborne both marked the achievements made during Mr Cameron's six years in office.

The Home Secretary paid tribute to the Prime Minister's handling of the terror threat and said he had always put the country first.

Mr Osborne marked the introduction of gay marriage and said Mr Cameron had "left the country a better place".

Mr Cameron has chaired 215 Cabinet meetings on 900 items of Government business.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said: "It was emotional but quite rightly we spent a long time on the Government business, but then we had a period during which we could raise tributes to the extraordinary service the Prime Minister has given, led on by George Osborne and Theresa May."

Small business minister Anna Soubry said Mr Cameron began by discussing how to tackle the problem of deprivation - an issue he had raised right at the beginning of his premiership.

She said she was "sad to see him go" but welcomed the arrival of Mrs May as a "safe pair of hands on the tiller".

Mrs May has already begun talks with senior colleagues and allies about the top roles in her Cabinet. 

Her main priority is to appoint her Chancellor, thought likely to be the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, in what could be a job swap with Mr Osborne.

She will also want to appoint a tough operator to succeed her as Home Secretary, with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and her leadership campaign chief Chris Grayling the leading candidates.