I do hope Gordon decides to withdraw and let the Tories and Lib Dems come to some sort of arrangement. Personally I think the Lib Dems would be silly to have any formal coalition: better for them to let the Tories form a minority government. With any luck they would be prevented from carrying out some of their worst plans, like gerrymandering the constituencies or bringing back fox hunting whatever happens.
The LDs will never get from the Tories what they want in terms of electoral reform anyway. The most they can hope for is a referendum where all the right wing press tell everyone to vote against and the government offer no support. Maybe fixed-term parliaments or an elected Lords might be acheivable, but even that is a bit hopeful.
Anyway, there is now plenty of scope for the Tories to start filling cabinet positions using all the levels of sound judgement they showed during the campaign. I wonder what would be the most (in)appropriate appointment?
- Nicholas Soames – Sport?
- Henry Smith – Roads?
- George Osborne – Chancellor?
Any suggestions?
I’m pretty sure Cameron will try & do in 2010 what Wilson did in 1974 – call another General Election the same year – in the hope of securing a majority.
Expect a lot of political flannel about national interest, unity & stability – until the majority is achieved.
In between time, Brown will resign & there will be a Labour leadership contest…
Millipede ? Prescott ?
Inappropriate – how about Dave Cameron – Prime minister?
As in the 1974 ‘hung parliament’, Cameron (Wilson) will be the Prime Minister anyway (most seats). Brown will resign.
But Cameron wants a majority (pathologically unable to work with other main parties).
Cameron will therefore call another General Election in the hope of securing a majority.
There is absolutely no certainty this will happen – we the people may change our minds & vote Labour in as a majority. Depends on so many factors. Impossible to predict.
Cameron & Smith shouldn’t get too comfortable in their respective new desks – it may prove a very temporary affair.
Talking of which… has Henry Smith resigned as leader and as a county councillor yet? Or is he hedging his bets?
I have to admit to being a little confused now, thinking that if Brown resigns (which he now has),
Cameron can go to the Queen & become Prime Minister – until he calls another election to try & get a majority.
That does not seem to be the case…
Brown is still Prime Minister in No. 10 until September when a new Labour leader is selected.
I understand why he has resigned – to get a coalition with Lib Dems etc – but I don’t understand why he is still at No. 10 – constitutionally-speaking.
Any ideas anyone ?
Two answers really.
Firstly, Brown has not resigned yet – just said that he will, and is going to ask the party to start the process of electing a new leader. Not entirely clear whether he intends to stay leader until a new one is elected or to hand over to HH.
Secondly, he announced he would quit as leader – not as Prime Minister. He more or less *has* to stay as PM for now. If he resigned now there would be no PM and no government until all the horse-trading was complete, which apparently is not a good idea.
In fact, until the Tories and Lib Dems come to an agrement Brown has a duty to stay as PM.
Actually you don’t need to be leader to be PM. Under our wonderfully democratic system you cannot be PM unless and until the unelected hereditary monarch invites you to form a government. In theory Her Maj could ask Sarah Lucas to form a government, although in reality she invites whoever the outgoing PM recommends, and they recommend whoever thinks they can form a majority.
Cameron can’t just go to the Queen: she has to invite him.
Gordon Brown *could* decide to stay in No. 10. Any PM could even if they got wiped out in an election – but they would only last until their Queen’s Speech got voted down, which would trigger an election. The convention is that the PM resigns as soon as somebody else proves thay can command enough support to get a Queen’s Speech passed.
Thanks for that..
That might explain why HH is staying as Deputy Leader….
Another thing …you say :
“In theory Her Maj could ask Sarah Lucas to form a government”
In theory & practice, could Maj ask David Cameron to form a government ?