David Cameron Will Succeed Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown stepped down as prime minister and resigned as head of the Labour Party today, as it became clear that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are on the verge of forming a coalition government. David Cameron, the head of the Tories, is expected to visit Buckingham Palace today to accept the queen's formal invitation to form a government, the BBC reports.

The announcement, a day after Brown said he would resign by September, followed the breakdown of coalition talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. "In the face of many years, challenges up to and including the global financial meltdown, I have always tried to serve, to do my best in the interests of Britain, its values and its people," Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair in June 2007, said in an emotional speech outside No. 10 Downing Street.
(More Gordon Brown stories.)