With meetings between Senior Conservative and Liberal Democrat frontbenchers at the Cabinet Office apparently going amicably are we looking at an unlikely Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government allowing David Cameron to oust Gordon Brown as Prime Minister?
Hard to believe with all the niceties we are seeing in the news between the Tories and the Lib Dems right now with for example William Hague (Conservative shadow foreign secretary) referring to his Lib Dem colleagues, that a few days ago David Cameron was scaremongering that hung parliaments result in weak governments and the end of the world is nigh :-)
If David Cameron is right about hung parliaments I guess we are about to get either a weak minority Conservative government or a weak Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government: I can not see any government involving Labour, it would be such a long shot.
Assuming we do get a Conservative minority government or a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government I’m very interested to see what it costs the Tories to secure the keys to Number 10 Downing Street: at least David Cameron will understand what it’s like to pay through the nose for a house in Britain today.
Also see the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition negotiations Agreements reached 11 May 2010 and the Full Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government Agreement published 20th May 2010.
If I hear another person say “the electorate voted for a hung parliament” I may just start throwing things. No one was asked to vote for a hung parliament, it is the occasional and unfortunate side effect of the system we have. If I hear another person say “the electorate voted to change the voting system” I will scream. No one has been asked to vote on a change of system – hung parliaments happen when there is no overall majority for a single party i.e it’s simply because enough people disagree on which party should govern. If I hear another politican talk about a legitimate left wing progessive coalition (code for a marriage of the losers) I will go mad. We don’t have PR (yet) so don’t talk as though looking at the FPTP result through a PR prism is a legitimate course to take. If Clegg prostitutes himself to prop up a defeated party in return for getting his own PR policy through (despite not having any mandate to do so) I will march on Westminster and hope I’m not alone. The only legitimate choice should be between supporting the winning party or calling another election. It cannot be right that a minority party should decide who is the next government and on what terms it may govern. Don’t quote Germany at us – all their decisions are based on political calculations designed to hold onto power and not on national interest. I’m with Kaitlyn – top of the political reform agenda should be independence for Scotland!
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I agree with Sarah, Scotland should be indipendant, we should rebuild the wall then we will not have to bail out their bank with English money or subsidise every service they have, if you had been indipendant during the financial crisis Greece would be lending you money.
I have voted LibDem for over 35 years because they seem to care about people and society, After living and working under 18 years of Tory government i would never ever vote for them in a million years, they proved themselves to be the most self centered, hateful bunch of people i have ever come across. Within 4 days the Liberals have betrayed everything i thought they stood for and for what, a few measley seats in cabinet on inflated wages and their noses firmly in the trough. I think they will regret supping with the devil for decades.
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Your last comment is a bit rich given the one before it, when was the last time the Liberals were in power?
If you rule out a Labour/Liberal Democrat rainbow coalition as a serious government (it realistically wouldn’t work long term), you are left with a Conservative minority government propped up by the Lib Dems and others issue by issue or a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government or no government at all and another election.
Another election right now would be awful for the country, the markets would be destabilised and there might be a run on the pound causing more economic problems!!!
A Conservative minority government though an idealistic choice for Liberal Democrat supporters would mean the Lib Dems get very little for their voters, would they get electoral reform for example? You get a referendum on the alternative vote which should result in more Lib Dem MPs IF the country votes yes to it.
I’m a Labour voter, but can see the best choice right now is a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition. Medium term I think it benefits Labour most because the coalition will be blamed for the austerity measures, but if you only look on this from a perspective of having a working government that can make decisions then a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition was the only good choice (assuming they can play nice together).
Isn’t this what Liberal Democrats want, to show progressive politics can work?
If this coalition works it supports more changes to the voting system, would prove hung parliaments aren’t a disaster and the Lib Dems want the Single Transferable Vote for example which will pretty much guarantee hung parliaments.
David
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I think the Tories should have formed a minority government and the other parties should be grown up enough to pass good laws and vote against bad ones, we then have checks and balances in these difficult times, as it is i think Nick Clegg has betrayed everyone that voted Liberal (6 million people) by handing over their votes to Cameron. The tories are the last party i would ever vote for after Thatcher, and now i will never vote Liberal ever again.
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Yes he certainly has misled all of the people who unfortunately voted lib-dem, and he has done the dirty just to enter into office. It will not last, how can it.
There’s a reason that this is the first peace time coalition government in 60 years. It can’t possibly work out. Especially not with the Lib Dem’s and The Tories.
xx
I agree, when the sickly Clegg, Cameron honeymoon is over and the backbench Thatcherite undead rise up a split is inevitable.