mgran wrote:
Well, I would say this election was a failure for everyone. The Conservatives were clearly ahead by what should have been a secure margin only months before the election, but the expenses scandal didn't do them (or the Labour Party) any favours. The country was clearly dissatisfied with Labour, and the Lib Dems thought they would do a lot better than they in fact did.
And I would add that the Liberals have shot themselves in the foot. A lot of their supporters will be upset that they've teamed up with the Conservatives, and won't trust them again, and I don't think they'll get electoral reform from the Conservatives either. So they've not only lost the trust of potential future voters, they've lost any hope of electoral reform.
In the mean time the Conservatives must be gutted that they didn't win outright. At one point you would have expected a landslide.
And the Labour Party must realise just how much the country no longer trusts them.
Basically, it's a shambles, and I don't expect it will last for a full term. No matter what the back room promises may have been.
Well, I'm an American, but my take is that Labour was in power for fourteen years, and I'm only 25, so I basically only remember the UK ever having a Labour government. They had a good, long run even if now they're going to spend some time in the wilderness. Look at the United States. The Republicans blew through their trust with most of the American electorate by 2006, and they were completely defeated in 2008, handing the Democrats a strong mandate. In only a year, enthusiasm for Barack Obama has worn off, and now much of the electorate is thinking Republicans for the 2010 midterms.
At least the Conservatives got a plurality of the vote; they're probably glad to have that over sitting in the Opposition again. Sure, they'd have preferred an absolute majority, but they've got something they can work with.
The Liberal Democrats are probably glad to have some influence as the junior partner in David Cameron's governing coalition. They may lose a few purists, but it's easy to maintain a pure philosophy and radical policies when you're not actually governing. This experience could help them in future elections when it shows they're a mature party. In the mean time, yes, the Tories probably won't give them the alternative vote they want, but I can't see the Liberal Democrats giving the Conservatives an aura of legitimacy without getting something in return; they could have just left Cameron to try to form a minority government and see how long it lasts. Yes, the coalition may not last five years; the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats may file for divorce.
13 May 2010, 8:10 pm
