David Cameron entered No 10 last night as the first Conservative Prime Minister in 13 years.

The Tory leader said he intended to form a “proper and full” coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

Arriving in Downing Street with his wife Samantha, he paid tribute to Gordon Brown for his “long record of dedicated public service” and said that after more than a decade of Labour rule, Britain was “more open at home and more compassionate abroad”.

Looking ahead to the coalition he will form with the Lib Dems, he said: “We have some deep and pressing problems – a huge deficit, deep social problems, a political system in need of reform.

“For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

“I believe that is the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I think we need so badly.”

Mr Cameron said: “Nick Clegg and I are both political leaders who want to put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest.

“I believe that is the best way to get the strong Government that we need, decisive Government that we need today.”

The Prime Minister went on: “One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system.

And he added: “And I want to build a more responsible society... where we don’t just ask what are my entitlements but what are my responsibilities, one where we don’t ask what am I just owed but more what can I give.”

The Prime Minister continued: “I want to make sure that my Government always looks after the elderly, the frail, the poorest in our country.

“We must take everyone through us on some of the difficult decisions that we have ahead.

“Above all it will be a Government that is built on some clear values, values of freedom, values of fairness and values of responsibility.”

Liberal Democrat frontbencher Simon Hughes said there had been a “surprising coming together” during the negotiations A “progressive arrangement” had been reached to lift the poor out of tax, make sure investment goes to education, build Britain out of recession and guarantee political reform, Mr Hughes added.

Conservative Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, said: Gordon Brown had made “a very dignified but overdue exit from Number 10.”

He added: “The nation turned its back on Labour last Thursday and there was growing realisation that a Lib/Lab coalition was morally unacceptable.”

Bob Walter Conservative MP for Dorset North said he wished Mr Brown had gone a few days ago. “I’m delighted. David Cameron won the election and we will move forward with a Conservative Government supported by the Lib Dems which I believe is in the national interest,” he said.

David Stokes, Labour PPC for Bournemouth East who came in third on May 6, described it as “a very sad evening”.

He said: “I think Gordon Brown in years to come will be looked back on as a very principled leader. I think in Bournemouth East many people said they were voting Lib Dem to keep the Tories out. In fact these people who voted for the Lib Dems have brought the Tories in.”

Annette Brooke, Lib Dem MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, said: “I think it was only a matter of time in that Gordon Brown lost the election and clearly had become very very unpopular among his own MPs and across the country.

“While there is a certain amount of euphoria about the coalition my concern is what exactly will be revealed when the Lib Dems and Conservatives see the true scale of our finances that Gordon Brown left the new Government.”