Standing ovation for Cameron at last PMQs

“The spirit of service is one of this country’s most remarkable qualities”, Mr Cameron continued.

There’s been much speculation as to whether the Downing Street feline would be getting the axe under May’s new cabinet.

Ulster Unionist Danny Kinahan had the first slot in Mr Cameron’s final Question Time.

He praised the “national treasure” of the NHS and the strengthening of Britain’s defences.

Bidding farewell to his time in office, the Prime Minster said he will be eagerly watching from the backbenches and paid tribute to the work and idealism of politicians across the political divide.

The prime minister is handing over to Home Secretary Theresa May – who was sat alongside him on the front bench during the half hour session – after announcing his resignation on 24 June, the day after Britain voted to quit the EU. Labour MPs also joined in with the clapping, including leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Cameron told Mr Corbyn he looked “splendid”.

“When it comes to women I am pleased to say that pretty soon it’s going to be two-nil, and not a pink bus in sight”, he said in response to a question from Corbyn that referenced May.

He was speaking as he answered Prime Ministers Questions for the final time on Wednesday.

“There’s the England football team. there’s Top Gear. there’s even, across the big pond a role which needs filling.” they roared and jeered in the Commons.

David Cameron makes his final speech as prime minister outside Number 10 Downing Street with his family.

In a letter to Cameron on Tuesday, leaders of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, National Hindu Students Forum and National Council of Hindu Temples suggested he had been the most Hindu-friendly premier in Britain.

He also thanked the outgoing Prime Minister for his service and for helping to release Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo Bay and legislating for equal marriage.

Mr Cameron and his allies are able to point to a number of abiding achievements, sometimes also due to the participation of the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition government (now seemingly a period of nearly serenity by comparison with recent events). His daughters Nancy and Florence were seen to give their father a wave and cheer him on during the session.

The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the private audience was likely to be a short one, potentially about 20 minutes.

“And I’m reflecting on the lesson that she offered”.

Our correspondent said Queen Elizabeth was likely to ask the new PM, who will be the 13th leader of her reign, about her “intentions and programme” for government.

She will return to No 10 as the country’s second female prime minister, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher.

Mrs May, who backed a vote to remain in the European Union, is expected to announce her ministerial team shortly after taking charge.

Nonetheless, it is impossible to avoid the fact that he was the Prime Minister who lost Britain’s advantageous position in Europe – in the European Union but outside the euro – and who may have pushed Scotland out of the United Kingdom and revived the border question in Ireland.

It was not supposed to end like this for Britain’s youngest prime minister in almost two centuries, who navigated five years of coalition politics to win a narrow majority in 2015 on a platform of economic recovery and social reform.

In his last Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Cameron was wished well by MPs and given a standing ovation from members of his own party.

It is understood first minister Carwyn Jones is yet to meet Mrs May, whose position on Wales is as yet unclear.