UK Election 2010

[Mr. Morden]

What happens in the UK if there's a hung parliament?  Could either Labour or the Cons form a minority government, as in the current situation in Canada?  Is there any chance of the Lib Dems forming a coalition government with either of the other two parties?

[Mr. Morden]

What happens in the UK if there's a hung parliament?  Could either Labour or the Cons form a minority government, as in the current situation in Canada?  Is there any chance of the Lib Dems forming a coalition government with either of the other two parties?

Anyone want to answer this?  What happens if there's a hung parliament?  Can a minority government be formed?  Would the Lib Dems form a coalition with either of the other parties?

[Mr. Morden]

Forgive my ignorance, but if the Conservatives end up just a few seats short of a majority, then what happens?  Is one allowed to form a minority government, as in Canada, or would there have to be a coalition?

[Mr. Morden]

If Labour ekes out a bare plurality of seats, but still comes in second or third in the popular vote, is there any chance that they might still dump Brown immediately after the election, and install someone else as Prime Minister presiding over a minority government?  Would there be any precedent for such a thing.....dumping your PM the second after you've "won" reelection?

[Mr. Morden]

It's actually quite reasonable.  A Tory-Lib government would be a damn good one in my opinion, and by all indications if the election results come in as they look now (Tory 1st, Lib 2nd, Labour 3rd in the vote count), he's right that Labour would've lost all legitimacy to lead.

A Tory-Lib coalition would force the Conservatives to take the edge off their extreme Euroskepticism, which is my biggest objection to the Conservatives.

Sorry if this question has already been asked to death, but what's the most likely form for a Tory-Lib coalition anyway?  Does that just mean that the Cons would lead a minority government on their own, and the LDs wouldn't formally be part of it, but they'd prop up the government in votes in exchange for certain policy concessions from the Conservatives?

Or are we talking about a full blown coalition government in which the two parties actually divide up cabinet ministries among themselves?

[Mr. Morden]

Sorry if this question has already been asked to death, but what's the most likely form for a Tory-Lib coalition anyway?  Does that just mean that the Cons would lead a minority government on their own, and the LDs wouldn't formally be part of it, but they'd prop up the government in votes in exchange for certain policy concessions from the Conservatives?

Or are we talking about a full blown coalition government in which the two parties actually divide up cabinet ministries among themselves?

No one knows; all is speculation.

I see.  So heading into the election, no one knows which combination of parties might coalesce to form a government, and even immediately *after* the election, it might be far from obvious which parties will be in the government.

Sounds like the elections in Iraq. 

[Mr. Morden]

Another random question I have: Approx. what # of seats would the Conservatives have to reach to realistically avoid having to make any deal whatsoever with the LibDems?  At some point, they could get by just by making a deal with one of the parties in Northern Ireland, right?