While the new prime minister and his deputy may get along together, it will be a different matter for their respective party footsoldiers, especially when public sector cuts bite, says Robert Hill.
However, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government has got off to a flying start. The coalition partners seemed to have learned from the lessons of other hung administrations. Having a written agreement on policy priorities, sharing out ministerial posts and a Cabinet committee to resolve differences all provide a sound foundation.
As befits two new partners deciding to cohabit, a new government deserves – and, I suspect, will enjoy – a honeymoon period with the electors. Moreover if it was left to David Cameron and Nick Clegg alone, they would have a good chance of making their political marriage of convenience work.
But both of them have the little matter of keeping their parties on board. Mr Cameron represents a strand of the Conservative Party which is economically and socially liberal. The right wing of the party has not gone away – indeed, its forces have been reinforced by the new intake of MPs.
Europe, family policy, taxation – particularly inheritance tax – and electoral and constitutional reform could all be sources of tension between the prime minister and his backbenchers.
Although the right of the party will have been pleased to see Ian Duncan Smith appointed as Cabinet minister at the department for work and pensions. Mr Clegg is part of the Orange Book brigade in the Liberal Democrat Party that, together with an emphasis on individual liberty, espouses market solutions to many policy areas.
But other Liberal Democrats come from more of a ‘progressive' tradition which is closer to the Labour Party, in terms of seeing a broader role for the state in promoting social justice and public service.
As the scale of the spending cuts – which will be the issue that dominates the parliament – bite, schools lay off staff and hospitals go into deficit or scale back their activities, including closing A&E and maternity units, will Liberal Democrat MPs and councillors have the stomach to go out and defend reduced levels of public services?
So much for possible strains within the parties. What about potential differences between the two coalition partners?
It's already clear where some of the fault lines lie. The policy agreement between the parties allows for the Liberal Democrats to abstain on three big areas of reform:
