The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government is 100 days old. Andrew Sparrow looks back over its highs and lows so far

100 facts about the coalition's first 100 days

Ten coalition cuts | Ten coalition quotes | Ten coalition foreign policy initiatives | Ten coalition surprises | Ten coalition setbacks | Ten coalition appointments | Ten coalition U-turns and clarifications | Ten coalition expressions of friendship | Ten coalition critics | Ten coalition numbers

Ten coalition cuts

Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

1. Building Schools for the Future. More than 700 projects cancelled when Michael Gove axed Labour's £55bn school-building scheme.

2. Child trust funds. Some £520m to be saved from the abolition of Labour's popular saving-promotion grants.

3. Council funding. Councils are having their budgets cut by £1.165bn this year.

4. Strategic health authorities and primary care trusts. Being abolished as government gives control of £80bn spending to GPs.

5. £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters. Firm wanted the money to finance expansion, but government ruled it unaffordable.

6. Courts. Some 157 magistrates and county courts set to close, saving £37m.

7. UK Film Council. Clint Eastwood and Hollywood's DreamWorks Studios among those protesting about closure of film quango.

8. Ministerial salaries. Ministers being paid 5% less than ministers in last government, and pay frozen for five years, saving £3m.

9. Regional development agencies. Nine RDAs in England, employing around 3,400 people, being axed and replaced with local enterprise partnerships.

10. Ministerial cars. Around £5m saved by most ministers using cars from the ministerial car pool instead of having a personal driver.

Ten coalition quotes

Nick Clegg. Photograph: Ho/Reuters

1. "You can call it fairness. You can call it responsibility. You can call it liberalism." Nick Clegg defining coalition's philosophy at the rose garden press conference.

2. "It really does look and feel different. Indeed many of us are sitting next to people that we've never sat next to before." David Cameron on the new Commons.

3. "This is one of the hardest things we will ever have to do, but I assure you, the alternative is worse." Clegg to Lib Dem members about the budget.

4. "I am a revolutionary but I am also a pragmatist," said Clegg.

5. "We are hoping that we will be using a scalpel rather than a chainsaw." David Laws, after announcing cuts worth more than £6.2bn.

6. "I don't think compromise is betrayal." Clegg on the day of the Queen's speech.

7. "From now on governments will have to fix the budget to fit the figures, instead of fixing the figures to fit the budget." George Osborne, the chancellor, after the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility.

8. "What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong." Cameron in his statement on the Bloody Sunday report.

9. "The rule of this government should be this: if it unleashes community engagement – we should do it. If it crushes it – we shouldn't." Cameron on the "big society".

10. "The Brokeback coalition." Jibe about the Cameron-Clegg partnership apparently coined by Lord Ashcroft and later repeated by Tory MP David Davis.

Ten coalition foreign policy initiatives

British soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

1. 2015 set as unofficial deadline for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Government has rejected "timetables", but has also said combat troops should be home within five years.

2. Strengthening relations with India. Government committed to "new special relationship" and Cameron has already visited India on trade mission.

3. Israeli treatment of the Gaza Strip condemned. Cameron said Gaza "cannot remain a prison camp" and that its borders should be open.

4. Retaining good relations with the US. Cameron received a warm welcome from Barack Obama in Washington, and the government is committed to a "strong, close and frank" relationship with the US.

5. Foreign Office to focus more on trade. Ambassadors told to stress that Britain is "open for business".

6. More support for Turkey's bid for EU membership. Cameron visited Ankara to say he was "angry" at EU efforts to keep Turkey out.

7. Attempts to defuse Lockerbie row. Cameron told the Americans the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was wrong and "profoundly misguided".

8. Being blunt with Pakistan. Cameron caused a row by saying Pakistan should not be allowed to "look both ways" in relation to terror.

9. Calls for extension of the Doha trade talks. At the G20, Cameron said that enlarging Doha negotiations could break the deadlock.

10. Getting along with the EU. Despite traditional Tory hostility to the EU, relations with Brussels have so far been very cordial.

Ten coalition surprises

Theresa May. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA

1. Theresa May becoming home secretary. The most unexpected senior cabinet appointment, and a big promotion for the former shadow work and pensions secretary.

2. NHS reorganisation. Government has embarked on massive NHS restructuring, even though Tories said before the election that these exercises caused "terrible" disruption.

3. Promising to fund 200 all-postal primaries. An idea in coalition programme, even though it had not been floated by Tories or Lib Dems before May.

4. Announcing date of spending review well in advance. George Osborne said it would report on 20 October.

5. Danny Alexander's promotion. Following David Laws's resignation, Alexander became chief secretary to the Treasury, barely five years after leaving his job as Cairngorms park press officer.

6. William Hague and Nick Clegg sharing Chevening. The pair have joint use of the grace-and-favour country home usually used by the foreign secretary.

7. Cameron flying the England flag over No 10 during the World Cup. It didn't seem to help.

8. Cameron travelling to the US on a scheduled flight. Downing Street said hiring a plane would be too expensive.

9. Approving an airport for St Helena. Other spending plans have been cut, but this project – which is supported by Ashcroft – has in principle been agreed.

10. Cameron walking from Downing Street to the Commons. His security detail apparently weren't happy.

Ten coalition setbacks

David Laws. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

1. David Laws's resignation. The highly rated Lib Dem chief secretary to the Treasury resigned in May following revelations about his expenses.

2. Michael Gove's Building Schools for the Future mistakes. He apologised after repeatedly releasing erroneous lists of schools affected by the scrapping of the BSF programme.

3. Cameron facing criticism over BP. Some papers attacked him for not doing more to defend BP when it was supposedly being unfairly pilloried in Washington.

4. The Pakistan row. Pakistani intelligence officials cancelled visit to the UK after Cameron's comments about Islamabad's terror record.

5. The economy. The picture is uncertain, but various economic data in recent weeks have increased fears of a double-dip recession.

6. Explanation for the refusal of the £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters being challenged. Its chief executive said directors were willing to sell shares, contrary to what Cameron and Clegg said.

7. Lib Dems' poll collapse. Although the Tories are up in the polls, Lib Dems have fallen sharply since election, to as low as 12%.

8. Jeremy Hunt's Hillsborough gaffe. Culture secretary had to apologise after suggesting the Hillsborough disaster was caused by hooliganism.

9. Cameron's Iran gaffe. At a Q&A event he mistakenly said Iran has nuclear weapons.

10. Cameron's 1940 gaffe. Cameron apologised after saying Britain was "junior partner" with the US against the Nazis in 1940, even though America did not enter war until 1941.

Ten coalition appointments

Frank Field. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

1. Frank Field, Labour former welfare minister, as head of independent review of poverty.

2. Sir Peter Gibson, intelligence service commissioner, as head of an inquiry into the alleged collusion of British intelligence officials in the torture of detainees.

3. John Hutton, the Labour former defence secretary and work and pensions secretary, as chair of a commission on public service pensions.

4. Sir Alan Budd as interim chairman of the new Office for Budget Responsibility.

5. Budd's successor. He or she hasn't been appointed yet, but Budd surprised Whitehall by saying he would only stay three months.

6. Brooke Kinsella, the former EastEnders actor whose brother Ben was murdered, as head of a Home Office knife-crime factfinding mission.

7. Lord Patten – the former Tory party chairman Chris Patten – to "lead government arrangements for the papal visit as [Cameron's] personal representative".

8. Will Hutton, the Observer columnist, as head of a review looking at the pay gap in the public sector.

9. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Tory former foreign secretary, as chairman of the intelligence and security committee.

10. Sir Philip Green, the billionaire Topshop owner, as head of an efficiency review into government spending.

Ten coalition U-turns and clarifications

Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

1. Clegg dropping plans requiring 55% of MPs to vote for a dissolution. A no-confidence vote will continue to trigger an election, provided no new government formed within 14 days.

2. Capital gains tax. Coalition agreement said CGT would go up to rates "similar or close to those applied to income", but George Osborne only raised it to 28%, not 40%.

3. Pakistan. Cameron later paid tribute to the "sacrifices" made by Pakistan's army and security services in what was seen as attempt to defuse row caused by his remarks about Islamabad's terror record.

4. Clegg and the Iraq war. Downing Street said Clegg was speaking in a personal capacity after he described the Iraq war as illegal at PMQs.

5. Free school milk. Cameron ruled out scrapping free school milk after idea floated by a health minister.

6. Prison parties. Crispin Blunt, a justice minister, said he would allow parties in prisons, but this angered No 10 and he was overruled.

7. Aid to Afghanistan. DfID defended its aid programme after Liam Fox said: "We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country."

8. Cameron and schools. Downing Street said Cameron was "empathising" with parents after he said he was "terrified" about the prospect of finding a good secondary school in London.

9. Humble pie. At their first press conference, Cameron said eating your words was "an excellent diet" when reminded he had once called Clegg a joke.

10. Clegg and Wales. Cabinet Office said Clegg made a "slip of the tongue" when he said the government would back a yes vote in the referendum on more powers for the Welsh assembly. Government will be neutral.

Ten coalition expressions of friendship

Cameron and Clegg. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

1. "I would like to thank David Cameron for the very positive, constructive and workmanlike way in which we have been able to reach a basic agreement." Clegg following the creation of the coalition.

2. "As someone who has recently got into bed with an ardent Europhile ... " Cameron, referring to Clegg, in the Queen's speech debate.

3. "Sometimes the differences between us are on matters of substance; but very often they are merely questions of language." Clegg on relations with Cameron.

4. "A good and honourable man." Cameron on David Laws, when Laws resigned.

5. George Osborne also paid tribute to Laws. It was "as if he had been put on earth" to be chief secretary, Osborne said.

6. "I could not have asked for a better minister, Conservative or Liberal Democrat. A reformer [to] his bones." Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative work and pensions secretary, on his Lib Dem junior minister, Steve Webb.

7. "Sharing power has ... actually strengthened cabinet government as more issues are debated between colleagues." David Willetts, the Tory universities minister.

8. "I've been pleasantly surprised that they're not as I'd envisaged them." Vincent Cable, the business secretary, on the Tories.

9. "He's clearly able. An able guy. And we work together well." Cable on Osborne.

10. Cable praised Cameron for his "truly remarkable contribution" to British politics when they appeared on a platform together.

Ten coalition critics

Charles Kennedy. Photograph: Laurence Topham for the Guardian

1. Charles Kennedy. "It remains a matter of profound disappointment that there was insufficient reciprocal will within the Labour party [to do a deal with the Lib Dems]," Kennedy wrote in the Observer.

2. David Davis. The Tory backbencher was heard saying government "has a mechanism for dealing with the Liberal party, most of whom are inside the coalition" but not the Tories, "most of whom are outside the coalition".

3. Lord Ashcroft. Coined the phrase "Brokeback coalition". He has not elaborated, but it's assumed it was not a compliment.

4. Simon Hughes. The Lib Dem deputy leader said he would need "a lot of persuading" to back Cameron's plans on council housing.

5. John Pugh. The Lib Dem MP tabled a rebel amendment to the academies bill, backed by five other Lib Dems, that would have enabled parents to be balloted over academy plans.

6. Bob Russell. The Lib Dem MP voted against the government over the VAT rise. "I am not at all happy," he said about the proposed increase.

7. Andrew George. Another Lib Dem MP who protested over the VAT increase.

8. David Blanchflower. The former Bank of England MPC member said the coalition cuts were "pushing us towards the death spiral".

9. Derek Simpson. The joint general secretary of Unite said the budget was "vintage Thatcher" and that the "Lib Dems have been conned into hammering the poor".

10. Bob Crow. The RMT leader said the coalition meant "old-school Thatcherite austerity and cuts that force people to pay through the nose for crumbling and underfunded services that hit the poor hardest".

Ten coalition numbers

Photograph: guardian.co.uk

1. 20%. The new rate of VAT (up from 17.5%), coming into effect in January and set to raise £13bn a year.

2. £6.2bn. The value of the coalition's first tranche of public spending cuts, announced on 24 May.

3. £70bn. The amount debt repayments would cost the Treasury every year by 2015 under Labour's plans, according to Cameron.

4. £140,000. Andy Coulson's salary as No 10 communications chief, just less than Cameron (£142,500), but more than Clegg (£134,565).

5. 10,000. The number of national citizen service places available in a pilot taking place next year.

6. "Well below 50:50". How Cable assesses the chances of Britain having a double-dip recession.

7. 12. The number of English cities to get elected mayors, under coalition plans.

8. £21,000. The salary level above which public sector workers' pay will be frozen for the next two years.

9. £7,475. The new personal income tax allowance. The level has been raised, taking 880,000 people out of tax.

10. 40%. The size of spending cuts that Whitehall departments have been asked to contemplate.