Hanging parliament
So we have a hung parliament. No, sadly there were no gallows involved, just a highly disgruntled people and nobody who really sold their vision well enough to achieve enough majority. Not even with an electoral system which makes a mockery of voting.
I must admit, even non-political-guy me has been watching this very closely. It’s been fascinating working out all the things that could happen and watching everyone shift and move into position. Actual diplomacy and negotiation has been happening!
Apparently, despite not achieving either the biggest share of the vote or number of seats, being the incumbent PM entitles Gordon Brown to be first to try and form a coalition, but he has to look at those results and ask (a) is this actually the honourable and moral thing to do, and (b) would it give him a tenable position anyway? Latest news suggests that what he’s actually going to do is let the tories try and broker a deal with the Lib Dems first, then only attempt the same discussion should they fail to make an agreement. Honourable (and I take my hat off to Brown for that, after doing more than my fair share of lambasting him of late) but could also be seen as a bit of a kick in the teeth for Labour voters to just lie down and let the Tories take over. If that does happen it seems highly likely that part of the deal will be a new Labour leader to succeed Gordon Brown.
I have to say that if such a Labour / Lib Dem coalition with someone other than Gordon Brown at the helm were an option on the ballot paper I wouldn’t have had the soul searching I have had over the past few weeks - my choice would have been clear. Realistically though, that would give even the resulting coalition the very narrowest of margins, and could effectively be a minority government anyway. There would always be doubts as well as to whether or not it’s really honest and fair to put the party with the highest vote and seat counts into the position of being the opposition.
Before that even becomes an option though, the Tories will try and woo not the lib dems, but their own members and support, into doing a deal to give them enough numbers to push things through. Already, hours after the announcement, this prospect is apparently causing unease in the Tory camp, revealing the hard, inflexible extremists in their midst.
I see this as a great opportunity for Britain to have its political leaders put aside their petty squabbles and put together a truly cooperative government. Whether or not either main party will find it is able to do so will tell all about that party, and should no coalition be possible, I think that is a damning indictment on both parties and the system in general. This is UK politics’ first big chance to show the ‘cleaned up’ attitudes they keep claiming they want, and get on with the job of running and uniting a deeply divided nation.
I must admit, even non-political-guy me has been watching this very closely. It’s been fascinating working out all the things that could happen and watching everyone shift and move into position. Actual diplomacy and negotiation has been happening!
Apparently, despite not achieving either the biggest share of the vote or number of seats, being the incumbent PM entitles Gordon Brown to be first to try and form a coalition, but he has to look at those results and ask (a) is this actually the honourable and moral thing to do, and (b) would it give him a tenable position anyway? Latest news suggests that what he’s actually going to do is let the tories try and broker a deal with the Lib Dems first, then only attempt the same discussion should they fail to make an agreement. Honourable (and I take my hat off to Brown for that, after doing more than my fair share of lambasting him of late) but could also be seen as a bit of a kick in the teeth for Labour voters to just lie down and let the Tories take over. If that does happen it seems highly likely that part of the deal will be a new Labour leader to succeed Gordon Brown.
I have to say that if such a Labour / Lib Dem coalition with someone other than Gordon Brown at the helm were an option on the ballot paper I wouldn’t have had the soul searching I have had over the past few weeks - my choice would have been clear. Realistically though, that would give even the resulting coalition the very narrowest of margins, and could effectively be a minority government anyway. There would always be doubts as well as to whether or not it’s really honest and fair to put the party with the highest vote and seat counts into the position of being the opposition.
Before that even becomes an option though, the Tories will try and woo not the lib dems, but their own members and support, into doing a deal to give them enough numbers to push things through. Already, hours after the announcement, this prospect is apparently causing unease in the Tory camp, revealing the hard, inflexible extremists in their midst.
I see this as a great opportunity for Britain to have its political leaders put aside their petty squabbles and put together a truly cooperative government. Whether or not either main party will find it is able to do so will tell all about that party, and should no coalition be possible, I think that is a damning indictment on both parties and the system in general. This is UK politics’ first big chance to show the ‘cleaned up’ attitudes they keep claiming they want, and get on with the job of running and uniting a deeply divided nation.