Election reaches first hung Parliament in nearly 40 years

David Cameron and Nick Clegg shake hands
after election debate, maybe a sign of things to come?

EVEN though the Conservative party took the most seats in this years general election they still fell short of an overall majority, meaning, for the first time in over 30 years, the UK is at the helm of a hung parliament.

As the counting continues up and down the country, Tories have gained 92 seats, Labour have lost 86 seats and the Lib Dems, despite comments from Nick Clegg about the election being “a two horse race” (between them and the Tories), have lost a disappointing six seats.

The task now for the parties is to form a coalition to see which leader can form a strong government.

It has been believed for some time now that the Lib Dems will play a strong role in the decision making of the next Prime Minister and this has proved to be true. Leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, this morning spoke outside the Lib Dem headquarters for the first time since the results were called, saying that he “stuck by” his earlier statements that the party with the biggest mandate should govern first. He said: “It seems this morning, that it's the Conservative Party that has more votes and more seats though not an absolute majority. I think it's now for the Conservative Party to prove that it's capable of seeking to govern in the national interest.”

The last time an election outcome saw a hung parliament was back in 1974 when Conservative Prime Minister, Ted Heath, stayed in power for an extra four days in an attempt to put together a coalition regardless of Labours dominance in the seat count. In this election The Liberal Party enjoyed their best results in decades of elections taking almost 20% of the total, but only 14 MPs to show for it.

After Ted Heath’s efforts to reach a coalition with Liberal Party leader, Jeremy Thorpe, failed, finally the PM resigned his post and Harold Wilson formed a minority government, until he won a second election in October.

As for the time being, there is no specific deadline for when a government must be formed, but a key date to stand by is at least the 25 May, when the Queen’s Speech is due to outline the government’s priorities during their time in parliament. However, with recent comments from Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, about the Conservatives position in the standings, a coalition could be met sooner rather than later.