Why were the Conservatives (UK) unable to win a majority in 2010?

[DaWN]

1) The Liberal Democrats won a large number of seats that prior to 1997 (and indeed now) were safely Conservative, which meant the Tories would have needed a larger number of gains from Labour than it appeared on paper to win a majority.

2) The Tories were still not completely trusted - the memories of the Thatcher/Major years still remained and the stink of the 'nasty party' remained, plus Cameron's 'attempts to move the party to the centre' were seen by many as the utter sham they were.

[DaWN]

A year ago that would have been such a wonderful prospect. With an actual functioning human adult in charge of the Labour party it is no longer necessary

[DaWN]

Can we just stop for a moment and appreciate the hilarity of UNS presenting us with Labour winning 65% of the vote nationwide but still losing most of the central belt to the SNP (which would not happen, Scotland may have different patterns but it does not vote in a vacuum, but we can still appreciate the hilarity)