As if you didn't know, we have a hung Parliament, where no party has a clear majority. In my humble opinion, this is a Good Thing, complete with capitals. Forgive me a little rant, but the conduct of British politicians has been piss poor, and I'm not talking about expenses either.
Anyone who's watched PMQT over the past few years (possibly more, but I can't testify to that) will have noticed that between the baying and the jeering it seems more like a lacklustre comedy show than the most important chamber in our Parliament.
A hung Parliament might well force some politicians to cooperate and act like adults, as indeed our European neighbours do. Dress it up as adversarial politics if you like, but very few secondary school teachers would stand for such squabbling under the guise of 'debate'. Perhaps Conservative and Labour backbenchers regret their heckling of Mr Clegg now.
Speaking of Mr Clegg, yes I was sorely disappointed by the Lib Dems performance in the Election. I suspect that, bearing in mind that they did manage to increase the share of the vote, the party fell foul to a combination of FPTP quirks and a the nastily effective "vote Clegg, get Brown," campaign.
Despite the rosette (honestly, who chose that colour? It's alright for a webpage, but not made for wearing! Clearly the Lib Dem team have political nous, and none of the sartorial expertise of... err...well none of them actually) I wore for a fortnight, I honestly find party politics slightly distasteful.
What do I think he will do? My current projection is that he will form a coalition or formal agreement with the Conservatives. Brown may keep trying to seduce Clegg with promises of electoral reform, but the Liberal Democrats, unsurprisingly, have an ideological commitment to democracy. Don't misunderstand me, I imagine Clegg is as self serving as any politician, but I doubt that if he chooses to side for Brown he will be able to retain the support of his party. The reason the Lib Dems are the 'third party' I think, comes down to:
- They don't have uber rich benefactors ala mummy Ashcroft, nor are they in the pocket of unions of dubious legitimacy.
- They stick too much to their principles.
Clegg apparently is the Kingmaker now, but as he maintains, it's up to the British people, and he will go with the party which got the most votes. There's just one problem: on many areas the Lib Dems and Cameron are fundamentally opposed. It's all very well for Cameron to emphasise areas of agreement, but there's one straw which methinks will break the camel's back.
Electoral Reform. A few months ago even, my politics class decided it would probably always be a non issue. Now it seems to be the issue which will make for either a coalition or a minority government. Cameron's party is against it (because having a strong government is obviously more important than democracy- by that token we might as well go for an elective dictatorship. Oh wait... too late.). and so he can't back down. Yet neither can Clegg for the same reason. We have a stalemate, and someone will have to crack first. Either Clegg will have to settle for an 'inquiry' which means it'll never happen, or Cameron'll have to yield to a referendum, in which case it probably will. Clegg cannot justify joining Brown, so he has no other option, but joining Cameron's cabinet as Home Secretary is practically the death knell for his career too.
I imagine that one of them will back down- hopefully Cameron- and a coalition will be formed. There's no way Cammie was taught to share at Eton, and he won't be good at cooperating. We'll have another General Election within a year, in which Labour will quite possibly get back in.
If I'm wrong I will give you all cookies.
Keep 'em peeled Lewis!
TK xx
P.S. Send in some emails, won't you? I'd love to know your predictions.
P.P.S. Anyone else dubious about sending Cameron as PM to Washington, or even Brussels? /shudder.
