LONDON — David Cameron appeared in Parliament on Wednesday to defend his political record on his final day as Britain’s prime minister, as he and the nation prepared for the formal handover of power to his successor,Theresa May, the home secretary.
Mr. Cameron’s last parliamentary duty was at prime minister’s questions, the weekly ritual in which lawmakers interrogate the leader in often combative exchanges.
On Wednesday, the discussion was more respectful than usual, as Mr. Cameron’s political adversaries and allies paid tribute to him as he prepared to leave his office in 10 Downing Street for the last time as prime minister, a position he has held for six years.
“I’m told that there are lots of leadership roles out there at the moment: There’s the England football team, there’s ‘Top Gear,’ there’s even across the big pond the role that needs filling,” Danny Kinahan, a lawmaker from Northern Ireland, told Mr. Cameron jokingly, referring to the country’s soccer team, a popular television show and the United States presidential election.
Jeremy Corbyn, the embattled leader of the opposition Labour Party, congratulated Mr. Cameron for his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2013, and for his efforts to secure the release of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen and British resident, last fall. He pressed Mr. Cameron, however, on his record on homelessness; the affordability of housing; and the rise of “zero hour” contracts that can exploit low-wage workers.
Mr. Cameron said his government had reduced child poverty and cracked down on mistreatment of workers.
The two men, in their final joust at Westminster, tangled over the respective challenges their leadership has faced. Mr. Cameron announced his resignation in the aftermath of Britain’s tumultuous referendum on June 23 to leave the European Union, while Mr. Corbyn, only 10 months into his term as the head of Labour, faces a challenge to that leadership.
Mr. Cameron said his governing Conservative Party had swiftly picked his successor, while saying of the opposition party, “They haven’t even decided what the rules are yet.”
Mr. Cameron also made a reference to the cat at 10 Downing Street, a tabby named Larry, who belongs to the Civil Service. “The rumor that somehow I don’t love Larry — I do, and I have photographic evidence to prove it,” he said, holding up a photograph of the cat. “Sadly, I can’t take Larry with me.”
On a more somber note, Angus Robertson, a lawmaker from the pro-independence Scottish National Party, said that Mr. Cameron’s decision to call the referendum risked the breakup of the United Kingdom. Most voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European bloc, while most voters in England and Wales — with notable exceptions, including London — voted to leave.
Mr. Robertson said of Ms. May: “She plans to plow on with ‘Brexit’ regardless of the fact that Scotland voted to remain in the European Union. How does the outgoing prime minister think that all this will go down in Scotland?”
Ahead of his parliamentary appearance, Mr. Cameron told The Telegraph newspaper, “As I leave today, I hope that people will see a stronger country, a thriving economy and more chances to get on in life.”Carol Monaghan, a lawmaker from the Scottish National Party, said: “The prime minister has done more for Scottish independence than many of us on these benches could ever hope to do.” Scotsvoted in a 2014 referendum to remain in the United Kingdom, but there is talk of a second referendum.
Though Mr. Cameron won a general election only last year, he finds himself out of power at age 49. Mr. Cameron will be the youngest prime minister to relinquish the job since Archibald Primrose, the Earl of Rosebery, in 1895.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cameron was expected to remind lawmakers of his role in stabilizing Britain’s economic position when he took power in 2010, after the global financial crisis.
But Mr. Cameron will mainly be remembered as the prime minister who gambled — and lost — by holding a referendum in which he called on Britons to continue more than four decades of European integration.
When 52 percent of voters decided they wanted to leave the bloc in last month’s referendum, Mr. Cameron was left with little alternative but to resign.
Mr. Cameron was scheduled to make the short journey to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. (Earlier in the day, the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and their grandson Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, were in Cambridge, England, to open a new base for an air ambulance service.)
Shortly after, Ms. May, 59, would make a similar journey to meet the monarch who has held such meetings with every prime minister sinceWinston Churchill.
After that appointment, Ms. May is scheduled to arrive at Downing Street, where she is likely to make a brief statement before beginning work on constructing her government. The new government’s main task will the highly complex one of withdrawing Britain from the 28-nation European Union.
Ms. May, who has served as home secretary for six years, is expected to promote several women to central positions in her cabinet, though it remains unclear whether those will include the jobs of chancellor of the Exchequer or foreign secretary.
Because she argued for Britain to remain inside the European Union, she is expected to give powerful positions to several of those who took the opposing view, to create a politically balanced cabinet.
One of her most delicate decisions will be what positions — if any — to offer figures such as Boris Johnson, the former London mayor, and Michael Gove, the justice secretary. Both men took leading roles in the campaign for withdrawal from the European Union, or “Brexit.”
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