Mr Straw is replaced as Home Secretary by Rt Hon. Mr Blair also increased the number of women in the Cabinet to six, the highest number ever. Meanwhile, the day after the general election, the Conservative Leader, Rt Hon. William Hague, announced that he would step down as Leader as soon as a successor was elected by the party. The front-runner to succeed Mr Hague and become the new Leader of the Opposition is former Defence Secretary Rt Hon.
Parties challenge political ban.
Pakistan's main political parties are applying to the Supreme Court to end the ban on political activities imposed by the country's military administration. There have been several reports of increased police activity against political parties since the beginning of the year, allegedly in an attempt to prevent the ARD from mounting public protests against the political situation in the country. The ARD Leader, Mr Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, is further challenging the authorities in their attempt to restrict the movement of politicians between provinces. He has also asked the Supreme Court to ensure that the military administration should not overstep the mandate it has since the Court gave it a three-year period to put in place reforms leading to a return to a democratically elected government. The military government says the Supreme Court's decision to allow it to implement its reform programme justifies its decision to restrict political activities.