Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 06/2010

The New British Government, the 'Special Relationship,' and the Middle East

Simon Henderson

May 2010

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Abstract

On May 6, Britain went to the polls to elect a new government, producing no clear result but forcing the resignation of Labor Party leader Gordon Brown. Within hours of taking over as prime minister, Conservative Party leader David Cameron had created a new body, a British national security council, whose first meeting focused on "discuss[ing] the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and review[ing] the terrorist threat to the UK." Apart from Britain's economic problems, these issues and Middle East policy in general will likely dominate the new government's agenda -- and its relations with Washington.