Portrait of the week | 10 April 2010

The Queen agreed to a request from Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, to dissolve Parliament so that a general election might be held on 6 May. Mr Brown stood in Downing Street, surrounded by the Cabinet, including a woman with striking red hair, who turned out to be Lady Royall of Blaisdon, the leader of the House of Lords. He then went with a posse of outriders to catch a train to Ashford, Kent. On Monday, after the dissolution of Parliament, he will fly from the country, in order to take part in talks in New York about Iran’s nuclear programme. Mr David Cameron, the leader of the opposition, stood by the Thames for the cameras, surrounded by young party supporters, then went to Leeds. In the rush to get legislation through, the government allowed the 10p rise in duty on cider, introduced at the Budget, to lapse at the end of June unless revived by Parliament.