The faces who will appear around David Cameron's Cabinet table were becoming clear throughout Wednesday morning. Here is STV's guide to the new political movers and shakers.

David Cameron
Prime Minister (Conservative)

Mr Cameron was elected to lead the Conservative Party in December 2005 and took over as Prime Minister on Tuesday, leading the first coalition, peace-time UK Government since the 1930s.

He was educated at the prestigious Eton School and at Oxford University, where he was a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club. Upon leaving university, he went to work for the Conservative Party as a researcher, before being poached as an assistant for the then-Chancellor Norman Lamont.

He then worked briefly for Michael Howard, before leaving politics to work in PR for Carlton TV. His first attempt at entering Westminster as MP for Stafford was unsuccessful, but he went on to win Witney for the Tories in 2001 and has served as the constituency's MP since. He has also held a range of Shadow Ministerial posts, including Shadow Education Secretary.

Embarking on his quest for the keys to No 10, Mr Cameron said he envisioned a safer, greener Britain, with a stronger focus on families, society and opportunity.

In his Conservative Party profile, Mr Cameron lists his hobbies as playing tennis, growing vegetables and cooking.

He is married to Samantha, the director of an upmarket accessories firm, and the couple have a son, Elwen, a daughter Nancy and a baby due in September. The couple's eldest child, Ivan, was severely disabled and died in 2009.

Nick Clegg
Deputy Prime Minister (Liberal Democrat)

Elected to Westminster just five years ago, Mr Clegg's rise from obscurity has been speedy, with his profile and popularity rising dramatically as a result of the televised leaders debates ahead of last week's General Election.

Like David Cameron, the 43-year-old had a privileged upbringing and was educated at the Westminster School and Cambridge University, the University of Minnesota and the College of Europe in Bruges.

He worked as a journalist in the USA and Europe, before moving to Brussels to work for the European Commission. He was elected as MEP for the East Midlands in 1999, but stood down in 2004, saying the travel demands of the job were too difficult to handle with a young family. He then spent a brief spell lecturing at Sheffield and Cambridge Universities, before being elected MP for Sheffield Hallam in 2005.

He then served as the party's spokesman on Europe and as Shadow Home Secretary, before winning the party's leadership election in 2007.

His election campaign focussed on civil liberties, the environment, and reform of both UK taxation and the Westminster electoral system.

Following the election, the Lib Dems spent five days in talks with the Conservatives before entering a coalition deal which saw Mr Clegg take on the role of Deputy Prime Minister.

He is married to Miriam, a Spanish international lawyer, and the couple have three sons, Antonio, Alberto and Miguel.

George Osbourne
Chancellor of the Exchequer (Conservative)

Mr Osbourne played a low-key role during the election campaign, making only two speeches, but was later heavily involved in coalition talks and has now been handed a key role in David Cameron's cabinet.

The 38-year-old was born in London and educated at the private Norland Place School, before going on to study modern history at Oxford University, where he became joint editor of the University magazine Isis.

After a short spell as a freelance journalist, Mr Osbourne joined the Conservative Research Department in 1994. He has since dedicated himself wholly to politics, covering a wide range of issues and departments in his career, including Work and Pensions, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Transport.

He was first elected as MP for Tatton at the 2001 election, succeeding the Independent MP Martin Bell and becoming, at the time, the youngest Tory MP in the House of Commons.

Before becoming Shadow Chancellor, he served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Shadow Economic Secretary, as well as sitting on the Public Accounts Select Committee.

Mr Osbourne is married with two children.  He is believed to be next in line to inherit a substantial share of Osborne & Little, his father's luxury wallpaper company, which is thought to be worth over £1billion.

Theresa May
Home Secretary (Conservative)

Theresa May becomes only the second woman, after Labour's Jacqui Smith, to hold the role of Home Secretary, which is considered one of the three major offices of state.

Mrs May will also serve as Woman's Minister, a position she has held in opposition alongside her role as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary.

The 53-year-old vicar's daughter, was educated at Wheatley Park Comprehensive School and read Geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford.

She has a wealth of banking experience, as a Bank of England executive officer a consultant for the Inter-Bank Research Organisation.

her political career began in the late 80s, when she was elected to Merton Borough Council. She fought for a parliamentary seat unsuccessfully twice, before eventually winning Maidenhead in May 1997.

Since then, she has held a wide range of shadow posts and served on the front bench under William Hague and David Cameron.

The former City high-flyer opposed Labour's all-women short-lists and claims that all her political achievements are the result of her own efforts and abilities, insisting that gender is irrelevant. She later co-founded Women2Win to assist in training females to become Tory parliamentary candidates.

On the Conservative Party website, she lists her proudest political achievement as bringing a minor injuries unit to St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead and her interests as walking and cooking.

Mrs May is also known for her fondness for shoes, after wearing a pair of leopard-print kitten heels to a Conservative Party Conference.

Kenneth Clarke
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (Conservative)

Known as Ken, the former barrister is one of the Conservative party's most recognisable faces.

Kenneth Clarke was born in 1940 and had a working class upbringing, attending his local comprehensive school in Nottingham before going on to Cambridge University. It was as a student that he became politically involved, becoming President of the Union and Chairman of the University Conservative Association. He was also the National Chairman of the Federation of University Conservative Associations.

He qualified as a barrister in 1963 and stood for parliament unsuccessfully in 1964 and 1966, before being elected MP for Rushcliffe at the 1970 General Election.

During his three decades in Westminster, Ken Clarke has served as both Chancellor and Home Secretary. On Wednesday, he was appointed Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor in David Cameron's new coalition Government.

Mr Clarke has been married to his wife Gillian for more than 40 years and the couple have two grown up children. Mr Clark is a fan of football, cricket and Formula One.

William Hague
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Conservative)

A former leader of the Conservative Party in opposition, Mr Hague now takes the key role of Foreign Secretary under David Cameron.

He was the lead negotiator in the talks that led to the formation of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition following the result of the 2010 election.

Mr Hague, 49, was born in Rotherham in Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive in Rotherham.

He first made the national news at the age of 16 by speaking at the Conservative Party's 1977 national conference. In his speech he told the attendees, "Half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time", before adding that others would have to live with the consequences of a Labour government if it stayed in power.

Mr Hague entered Parliament for the first time in 1989 as MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire. His first ministerial position was as Secretary of State for Wales in John Major's Government.

Following Mr Major's departure after the 1997 Labour election landslide, Mr Hague became Leader of the Opposition, before being replaced by Iain Duncan Smith in September 2001.

He returned to the Shadow Cabinet in 2005 as Shadow Foreign Secretary and now takes up that role in the full Cabinet under Mr Cameron.

Outside of politics, Mr Hague is currently a Vice President of the Friends of the British Library, which provides funding support to the British Library to make new acquisitions.  He is married to Ffion Hague and has a personal wealth of an estimated £2.2million.

Michael Gove
Education Secretary (Conservative)

Michael Gove was born and brought up in Aberdeen, where his parents ran a fish processing business, and was educated in both state and private schools.

He says it was that experience that gave him a passion for improving the state sector and helping children from less priveleged backgrounds.

Mr Gove worked as a journalist and served at STV in the 1990s, before deciding to enter politics.

He was elected MP for Surrey Heath in 2005 and served as Shadow Housing Minister before moving into the education brief.

He is married to Times journalist Sarah Vine and the couple have two children.

Vince Cable
Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary (Liberal Democrat)

The popular Liberal Democrat Deputy leader has had a varied political past, serving as a Labour councillor and joining the Social Democratic Party ahead of the merger with the Liberals which resulted in today's Liberal Democrat party.

Mr Cable was brought up in York and attended his local grammar school, later going on to Cambridge and Glasgow Universities.

An economist by trade, he worked as a Treasury Finance Officer in the Kenyan Government, was a Chief Economist at Shell and lectured at Glasgow University, before becoming the MP for Twickenham in 1997.

He became the party's Shadow Chancellor in 2003 and was elected Deputy Leader in 2006.

He stood in as leader when Sir Menzies Campbell stepped down, and gained public notoriety when, in Prime Minister's Questions, he referred to Gordon Brown as going from "Stalin" to "Mr Bean".

As well as his post in David Cameron's new coalition Cabinet, Mr Cable is expected to head up a new committee tasked with creating banking policy.

Mr Cable is married with three children. He has written nine books and memoirs relating to economics and politics and is a keen ballroom dancer.

Iain Duncan Smith
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Conservative)

Another former Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith moved to the relative obscurity of the Tory backbenches when he stepped down as leader following a no-confidence vote amongst Conservative MPs.

The 56-year-old was born in Edinburgh and was educated at HMS Conway, a naval training school on the Isle of Anglesey, where he played rugby union in the position of fly-half alongside Clive Woodward at centre.

He also attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, before joining the Scots Guards in 1975, with his six-year service including a spell in (then) Rhodesia and in Northern Ireland.

Duncan Smith joined the Conservative Party after leaving the military.  He first fought the safe Labour seat of Bradford West in the 1987 election, before successfully taking his current seat, Chingford and Woodford Green, in 1992 when Norman Tebbitt stepped down.

He served as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security and Shadow Defence Secretary before being Tory leader between September 2001 and November 2003.

Outside politics, Duncan Smith released a novel - titled The Devil's Tune - just weeks after stepping down as Tory leader.  It was panned by critics.

The keen Tottenham Hotspur fan and season ticket holder is married and has two sons and two daughters.

Danny Alexander
Secretary for Scotland (Liberal Democrat)

The youngest member of the new Cabinet on one of the youngest Scottish Secretaries since the 1700s, Danny Alexander was a key negotiator in the coalition talks which led to creation of the Tory and Lib Dem Government.

The 37-year-old was educated at Lochaber High School in Fort William before going on to study at Oxford University.

He served as a press officer for the Liberal Democrats in the late 90s then spent eight years working as Director of Communications at the European Movement and its successor the Britain in Europe campaign. In 2004 he took on the role of Head of Communications for the newly created Cairngorms National Park.

Mr Alexander was elected to the new seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey in 2005 on his first election attempt.

He quickly rose to prominence in the party, serving as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary before becoming Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, which led to him writing the Liberal Democrats General Election Manifesto.

He is married with one daughter and lists his hobbies as hill-walking and travel.

Dr Liam Fox
Defence Secretary (Conservative)

New Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox is one of only a handful of MPs with first-hand experience of army life, having served as a Civilian Medical Officer before entering politics.

The 48-year-old was born and raised in East Kilbride and attended his local comprehensive school before going on to study medicine at Glasgow University,

He worked as a GP in Somerset and Buckinghamshire and served both the NHS and the Army, before successfully contesting the rural Somerset seat of Woodspring in 1992.

He quickly rose through the ranks, entering the Foreign Office in 1995 and taking over the Conservative's constitutional affairs brief when they returned to opposition, before later serving as Shadow Health Secretary.

Mr Fox became his party's chairman in 2003 and stood, unsuccessfully, for the party's leadership in 2005, losing out to David Cameron. He then took on responsibility for defence for the Tories and was named Defence Secretary on Tuesday.

He married his long-term girlfriend Jesme, a doctor from his home town, in 2005, and lists his hobbies as skiing and diving.

Andrew Lansley
Health Secretary (Conservative)

Mr Lansley, the new Health Secretary, entered the Conservative party as director of research in 1990, before turning his attentions to working as an MP.

Born in 1956 in Essex, he was educated at Brentwood School and Exeter University. Upon graduation, he joined the Civil Service, later becoming the private secretary to Norman Tebbit.

Mr Lansley was a key strategist in the Conservatives' 2001 ill-fated election campaign, but was also credited with being instrumental to the party's 1990s electoral success, playing a key role in John Major's campaign.

He became MP for South cambridgeshire in 1997 and Shadow Health Secretary in 2003, before taking on the job for real on Tuesday.

He is married to Sally, and has four daughters and one son. He lists his interests as films and travelling.

Chris Huhne
Energy and Climate Change Secretary (Liberal Democrat)

Chris Huhne had a priveleged education, attending the Westminster School before goin on to study at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Oxford University.

Upon graduation, Mr Huhne worked as an investigative journalist in India before becoming the UK's youngest foreign correspondant when he was sent to Brussels by The Economist. In his 19 year media career, Mr Huhne also worked at The Guardian, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday.

Chris Huhne was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party but only entered professional politics upon his election to the European parliament in 1999.

He moved to Westminster in 2005 when he was elected MP for Eastleigh and worked as Shadow Secretary for the Treasury under Charles Kennedy's leadership. He then stood to succeed Mr Kennedy, but lost out in the leadership contest to Sir Menzies Campbell. He later went on to become the party's Shadow Home Secretary, before moving to the Climate Change brief in the coalition Government.

Mr Huhne is married to Vicky Pryce, the Chief Economist at the Department of Trade and Industry, and the couple have five children.

He has written books on Third World debt and development, European integration, and general economics and is a keen film and music fan.

David Laws
Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Liberal Democrat)

In the same year as he joined the Liberal Democrats, 1984, David Laws won the Observer Mace National Schools Debating Competition.

He won a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge, and went on to achieve a Double First Class Honours in Economics.

He was Managing Director at Barclays Bank before becoming the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party's Economic Advisor in 1994 and was author of the 1994 and 1995 Liberal Democrat Alternative Budgets.

Mr Laws is single and lists his interests as running and rugby.

Jeremy Hunt
Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Secretary (Conservative)

The MP for South West Surrey grew up in the county and has a background in business.

His educational publishing firm, Hotcourses, employs over 230 people and is the UK's largest publisher of university and college course guides and websites.

Mr Hunt says his publishing experience has given him a striong understanding of the chalennges facing Britain's creative industries.

Mr Hunt used to be a keen cross courty runner, but now spends less time on the track and more on the dancefloor, describing himself as a lambada enthusiast.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi
Minister without Portfolio (Conservative)

Baroness Warsi is the first Muslim woman ever to take a seat around the Cabinet table.

She was born in Dewsbury in 1971and read law at the University of Leeds before completing her leagl practice course at York College of Law. She also trained with both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office Immigration Department.

After qualifying as a Solicitor, she worked for John Whitfield, the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury, and then at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors before setting up her own specialist practice, George Warsi Solicitors.

Baroness Warsi is chair of the Savayra Foundation, a women’s empowerment charity based in Pakistan, and campaigns on issues including female genital mutilation and forced marriage.