the opposition to date will be led by harriet harman, standing and as labour leader. she will be responding to the queen's speech when that gets under way in the commons this afternoon. we might get a flavor of that debate today with a cast that we have with us. we have a former cabinet minister for labour and the bbc political editor. we will be joined by another cabinet minister. she is on her way to join us in a few minutes. the state opening always a significant advance -- event, but we have a new coalition disquiet among mp's in the governing party's three it follows the most event will election in many years. -- the and mental -- the most eventful election in many years. >> former rivals working together for the first time in more than 16 years. this brand new parliament. this propelled them into public view. >> then it was down to voting. but no one party able to control, we had to wait for politicians talking behind closed doors to see if the deal could be done. >> you are the kingmaker, after all? >> hours and hours of their talks with conservatives. they wer

harry harmon, any number of people could run. >> labor's deputy leader, harriet harman, has ruled herselfthe race, but everyone else, including david miller baniband is still in. >> we agreed no one would put forward their names until the flood of business of securing a government that can command a majority in -- until the vital business of securing the government is completed. once that is completed, the party can get about its business of electing a leader. >> remember those debates everyone made such a fuss about? it seems our next prime minister could be someone who was not even there. >> we will not know until a new leader of the labour party is elected. >> not involving the british people? >> inside the party, it is quite common in our system to have the leaders of party, and from time to time, the prime minister changed during the course of a parliament. we are a parliamentary democracy, and it is the support of parliament that rightly determines who governs. >> who is the big question. this afternoon, there was white smoke coming out of the chimney. the politics would simple comp

it includes speeches by the new prime minister david cameron and harriet harman.

david cameron and harriet harman, they appear to be chatting as they returned to the house of commons. you can expect a fairly lively debates of the session is about to start. david lewis, the new chief deputy of the sec. rick carey. -- secretary. they are all fairly spread out. there we are, the speaker and the sergeant of arms are formally welcomed back into the chamber. nothing can happen without the mace being set into place. that is the symbol of the authority of the speaker, and that means the house can be in session. that is on display there. now the house can formally be in session. that really is the key for the big debate. this is where it all starts. >> it starts not just with a list of legislation. we have 22 bills. i think all telling -- all will dominate. the speeding up of the reduction of the structural deficit. it is about real people's lives. it will be about the spending positions on taxes, but that may not have to be taken for many decades. that laid on top of two or three bills that i think will define how the new coalition government does -- they will be excited

we will hear from the new british prime minister david cameron and harriet harman. the new chancellor of the exchequer, george osborn, gives his first speech on the british economy. he talks about cutting public spending and reducing the corporate tax rate. that is tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. alert just weeks after the british elections which produced a new prime minister and a coalition government, queen elizabeth ii will formally of announce her government's legislative agenda for the next session three we will travel from buckingham palace to parliament for britain's one of mark -- one of britain's most celebrated occasion. the opening of parliament on c- span2. >> a look now what politics and the 2010 midterm election. from today's "washington journal," this is about 45 minutes. -- "newsmakers." host: alex isenstadt is the political reporter for politico. let's begin with this headline in honolulu. charles djou gott, and defeat in two democrats. your reaction? guest: it is a win for republicans. they win. it was a previously democratically-held seats

his wife being harriet harman. what do you think of this idea of some sort of accommodation between your party and the liberal democrats? >> well, the electorate have spoken. what they want is stable government. what they do not want is a conservative government. what's extraordinary about the results last night is that the big loser is the conservative party. we have been in power for 13 years. we've had the worst global economic crisis for 100 years. we've had the tories pouring ashcroft money into the marginals to try and buy seats. they were the conservative party 24% ahead in the polls. yet they have failed to gain a majority in the house of commons. >> they got 2 million votes more than you did. >> 2 million more people wanted a labour government apparently. >> yes. but they -- the country wants stable government, progressive government, fair government. it does not want a conservative government. >> well, then why did more people vote for it? >> the verdict of the country is clear. if this was a conservative

. >> let's oust tom that, because what seems to be the case n and you heard harriet harman saying that not necessarily straight to a bill on av. >> what harley actually said wa the rumor is that we were going to offer a deal without the referendum. let me be absolutely clear. in the manifest we committed i think unwisely to a referendum on av, that is the very maximm we can offer the liberal send any deal we want to put together. >> willen av deal get your westminster do you think? >> i'm against any bill that goes any further than what was committed in the manifesto and an awful lot of my colleagues feel exactly the same way. >> a couple of other issues. first of all-- a good mov bad move? >> i'm not sure how strong that story is, but dave cameron, he is in business forming government, that is the role we need to sort out. whether we are going to be forming a government with the dems are not. i would be very happy to talk t david about that but i have to be honest. >> let's talk