GORDON Brown has resigned - the final act of the General Election which took place last Thursday.

The announcement that Mr Brown has quit brings to an end 13 years of New Labour.

David Cameron has visited Buckingham Palace in the last few minutes where the Queen has asked him to form the next Government.

In an emotional speech on the steps of Downing Street, Mr Brown paid tribute to the armed forces, his colleagues and his family.

He said it had been a priviledge to serve his country as Prime Minister but he now planned to get on with the only job that was more important - to be a good husband and father.

Then, after a photo call with his family, he stepped into a Jaguar and was whisked to Buckingham Palace where he tendered his resignation to the Queen.

Mr Brown has told friends he plans to resign as an MP and leave politics.

Mr Brown spent some time in Downing Street with Ed Balls, his closest political ally, Lord Mandelson, the one-time enemy he brought back to shore up support for the Government, and his wife Sarah.

He spoke for awhile on the phone to Tony Blair to tell the former Prime Minister that the game is up.

His resignation will pave the way for David Cameron to form a coalition with the Lib-Dems - the first since the Second World War.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: ‘‘It is clear that the Labour Party never took seriously the prospects of forming a progressive, reforming government with the Liberal Democrats.

‘‘Key members of Labour’s negotiating team gave every impression of wanting the process to fail and Labour made no attempt at all to agree a common approach with the Liberal Democrats on issues such as fairer schools funding for the most deprived pupils and taking those on low incomes out of tax.

‘‘It became clear to the Liberal Democrats that certain key Labour Cabinet ministers were determined to undermine any agreement by holding out on policy issues and suggesting that Labour would not deliver on proportional representation and might not marshal the votes to secure even the most modest form of electoral reform.

‘‘It is clear that some people in the Labour Party see opposition as a more attractive alternative to the challenges of creating a progressive, reforming government, not least in the context of a Labour leadership election campaign.’’