A Curiously Casual Handover

Great Britain was surprised this evening by Gordon Brown's sooner-than-expected resignation, delivered at a lectern hastily placed outside the front door of 10 Downing Street at about 7:30pm local time. Helicopter shots showed the magnificent Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey gleaming in the late sun, the Thames sparkling beneath them, and then tracked Mr. Brown's black Jaguar as he made the short drive to Buckingham Palace to formally resign and recommend that the Queen ask David Cameron to form a new government.

BBC commentators remarked on the wondrous spectacle of the peaceful transfer of power, which is immediate here - no transition period like in the US. David Cameron is now the 12th Prime Minister of the Queen's reign, but that didn't keep his silver Jaguar from getting stuck in traffic on its way to Buckingham Palace! He was stopped next to a red double-decker bus (the #91, headed for our neighborhood!) and was immediately set upon by 'commoners' who came right up to the window of the car to wave and take pictures.

I was shocked, as this would never have happened even in pre-9/11 America, because 1) we would have had a motorcade of siren-blaring cops to clear the way, and 2) the secret service would have ensured that no one got within 100 yards of the new leader. Upon reflection, especially considering that London has seen its share of terrorism, I find it charming that Britain chooses to treat its leaders just like anyone else.

As Mr. Cameron arrived at the royal palace, it was noted that the two Queen's Guards posted outside did not salute his vehicle, whereas they had saluted Mr. Brown's as it left. However, their salute on his way out after a 20-minute audience with the Queen confirmed that he had indeed been confirmed as the new PM. The official announcement was that the agreement had been reached with a 'kissing of hands,' a point that was hotly debated by the BBC. It turns out that this is simply a reference to an ancient custom, and that the Queen and Mr. Cameron did not actually kiss each other's hands.

And so dawns a new political era in Great Britain, not with a bang but a whisper.