By: Mike Campbell
The UK held an indecisive election last Thursday with no one party gaining the 326 seats needed to have an absolute majority in parliament. The Conservative Party held the lion’s share of the seats (306) compared to the outgoing Labour Party (258) with the centrist Liberal Democrats capturing just 57 seats. In terms of percentage of electoral support, the picture should have been quite different; The Conservative won 36.1%; Labour 29% and the Lib. Dems. won 23%. Although a minority government is permitted under the UK’s constitutional rules, it would be unlikely to survive for long; particularly as controversial measures will need to be voted through, a coalition was always the most likely outcome. It was announced, yesterday, that the Conservatives will form a government with support from the Liberal Democrats, so the UK has a new prime minister, Conservative leader David Cameron.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, will become deputy prime minister and his party will have 20 governmental positions. As part of the deal, the country will have a referendum on limited changes to the UK electoral system which would include a second preference choice.
The new government has pledged to reduce the UK public debt by £6 billion this year and will announce an emergency budget within 50 days. A referendum would be required before any further power is transferred from Westminster to Brussels and the Liberal Democrats have agreed not to push for the UK to join the Eurozone during the lifetime of the new administration. The two parties hold contrasting views on the role of the UK within the EU with the junior partner being strikingly more pro-European. It remains to be seen how well the coalition will work and if it will survive any substantial disagreements going forward about handling the tentative UK recovery and dealing with the on-going financial crisis.