Kent MPs reacted to Britain's first coalition government in decades by saying it has to work for the good of the country.

As David Cameron began his first day as Prime Minister, the county's Conservative MPs denied the party had given too much ground in striking a deal with the Lib Dems.

But it appeared there could be one casualty of the pact, with Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark reportedly making way for Lib Dem Chris Huhne as energy and climate secretary.

Ashford MP Damian Green said: "It is a marriage that the electorate has dictated.

"We desperately need stable government and this is the way to achieve it.

"The agreement is for five years and that does give the stability we need at this time of crisis."

He added: "It is a genuine coalition and if you go into a coalition, you have to do deals.

"It is unchartered territory for all of us - it has to work for the sake of the country. We are in a very fragile economic position."

He was satisfied that the agreement meant the party's policy on immigration would hold sway, with the Lib Dems reported to have agreed to a cap on non-EU migrants.

Thanet North MP Roger Gale said: "This is a coalition government and it is inevitable that you have to reach a compromise.

"We have to try and make it work. We have to be grown up about it.

"We have to live with the reality of how things are, not how we would like them to be."

But he accepted the coalition was not what many had wanted.

"It is not what anyone in the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats would have wanted but it is the only solution in the national interest."

Greg Clark said he was unable to comment on his own position but welcomed the coalition.

"It is tremendously exciting and positive for the country," he said.

"I think it represents a huge shift in politics to a system where people are working together in the national interest."

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