BBC are now reporting that Downing Street is admitting that the Prime Minister has failed to form a working majority in the Commons.
The final constitional duty of the Prime Minister over, Mr Brown is now preparing to leave Downing Street.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government seems to be the most obvious and (for my money) the most attractive option now on the table. I wrote yesterday about how important is was for the national interest that a robust and sustainable government was formed out of the result of the general election.
More blogging tomorrow regarding the details of the deal between Cameron and Clegg, or as it emerges. There is so much the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats can agree on in terms of fixing our economy, mending our broken society and renewing our political system.
Exciting and happy times.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Monday, 10 May 2010
An hour or two is a long time in politics...
Blimey. I go away for a few hours of work and come back to see the news that the LibDems seem to have cobbled together a deal with the Labour Party. In principle. Well, maybe....possibly.
Whilst details are sketchy, my take on the decision by Gordon Brown to announce that he will relinquish his post as Labour Party Leader is that he would not have done so had Lord Mandelson not reassured him that such a sacrifice was not in vain.
If Brown has offered himself up as the price for the Lab/LibDem coalition proposal to have any chance of success, the General Election of 2010 will go down in history as the time when the Liberal Democrats ducked and failed to grasp the great opportunity presented to them by the electorate to change British politics and society for good. If the LibDems fail to recognise the judgement of the British people that the Labour Party, top-down government and the big state has had its day, then the Party is finished as an effective force in UK politics.
However, a large part of me remains somewhat unsurprised by actions of the LibDems. Being a former Liberal Democrat member myself (sorry!), I know the visceral, almost familial, hatred for the Tory Party held by so many activists and MPs within the LibDems. It also remains a fact that the LibDems continue to fight most of their local battles with Conservatives and the seats where they slug it out with Labour remain anomalies, subject to complex and almost impenetrable local (and personal) factors.
I can also see that LibDem strategists will have eyed up the 19 or so marginal Labour/Tory battles and seen that the Conservatives were only 16,000 votes off winning an overall majority in the Commons. With this in mind, they may have calculated that the attraction of a Cameron-led Conservative/LibDem coalition going back to the country pretty soon into this Parliament might have been too great a pull, in spite of all the talk of "national interest" and "stable government".
For my money, I think such calculations (if indeed these are/will be the basis of any calculations) are wrong and overly cynical. There is a huge and serious job to be done in terms of fixing the economy, mending the broken society and rebuilding trust in our politics and that cannot be left to the vagaries of partisan game-play.
I still contend that a Conservative minority government is less in the national interest that a Conservative/LibDem coalition. But the prospect of a failed Labour government being propped up by a desperate, scared and divided Liberal Democrat party is something which fills me with a real dread.
Whilst details are sketchy, my take on the decision by Gordon Brown to announce that he will relinquish his post as Labour Party Leader is that he would not have done so had Lord Mandelson not reassured him that such a sacrifice was not in vain.
If Brown has offered himself up as the price for the Lab/LibDem coalition proposal to have any chance of success, the General Election of 2010 will go down in history as the time when the Liberal Democrats ducked and failed to grasp the great opportunity presented to them by the electorate to change British politics and society for good. If the LibDems fail to recognise the judgement of the British people that the Labour Party, top-down government and the big state has had its day, then the Party is finished as an effective force in UK politics.
However, a large part of me remains somewhat unsurprised by actions of the LibDems. Being a former Liberal Democrat member myself (sorry!), I know the visceral, almost familial, hatred for the Tory Party held by so many activists and MPs within the LibDems. It also remains a fact that the LibDems continue to fight most of their local battles with Conservatives and the seats where they slug it out with Labour remain anomalies, subject to complex and almost impenetrable local (and personal) factors.
I can also see that LibDem strategists will have eyed up the 19 or so marginal Labour/Tory battles and seen that the Conservatives were only 16,000 votes off winning an overall majority in the Commons. With this in mind, they may have calculated that the attraction of a Cameron-led Conservative/LibDem coalition going back to the country pretty soon into this Parliament might have been too great a pull, in spite of all the talk of "national interest" and "stable government".
For my money, I think such calculations (if indeed these are/will be the basis of any calculations) are wrong and overly cynical. There is a huge and serious job to be done in terms of fixing the economy, mending the broken society and rebuilding trust in our politics and that cannot be left to the vagaries of partisan game-play.
I still contend that a Conservative minority government is less in the national interest that a Conservative/LibDem coalition. But the prospect of a failed Labour government being propped up by a desperate, scared and divided Liberal Democrat party is something which fills me with a real dread.
Now is the time for leadership
I will make further comments on the post-election fallout especially in terms of the local situation in Swansea West (where I stood for the Conservatives) but as time is marching on I need to make some comment on the current talks between my Party and the Liberal Democrats. Even before I finish these words, they may become obsolete, so I better type fast!
In short, I support the idea of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat formal coalition. The UK needs a strong, determined Government, with a full four-year plan to tackle the debt crisis, deal with the deficit and rebuild the economy. As the economies of Europe look set to fall like dominoes, it is vital that the British people have a Government that is strong, robust and sustainable.
Moreover, the new Government must renew our political system and take action to confront a failing society, protect our vital public services and return pride and self-determination to our local communities.
David Skelton has written eloquently and with passion about the need for a coalition of the progressive centre and I do not need to add to his fine words at this juncture.
Tim Crockford, Chair of the Tory Reform Group, had also issued a call to the Party to embrace the idea of a formal coalition with the Liberal Democrats and I fully endorse his position (I will declare that I am a vice-chair of the TRG Cymru).
We stand on one of the most important junctions in the political history of this nation. Down one road lies isolationism, petty partisanship and a missed opportunity to profoundly affect the destination of this nation. The other fork will lead our Party to delivering change for Britain, renewing our democratic institutions, creating a new economic model, developing a new approach to the protection of our environment and helping the most deprived communities of this land to enjoy a greater share of this nation's wealth.
Now is the time for leadership and for courage. The Leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats need to make bold decisions and grasp this historic opportunity with both hands. For them the prize is to build a government of the radical and progressive centre ground, one which can turn our country away from top-down, state-centred solutions to one which will truly introduce the concepts of localism and the big society. My Party and the Liberal Democrats may disagree on some details, but we are united in opposing the Labour Party's obsession with Whitehall-imposed targets and the centrist instincts of Brown & co.
For the sake of this great nation, the Conservative Party must step up to the plate, grasp this opportunity and seek to govern in the national interest and head a strong and purposeful government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
We shall see which fork in the road has been taken later today (we hope!).
In short, I support the idea of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat formal coalition. The UK needs a strong, determined Government, with a full four-year plan to tackle the debt crisis, deal with the deficit and rebuild the economy. As the economies of Europe look set to fall like dominoes, it is vital that the British people have a Government that is strong, robust and sustainable.
Moreover, the new Government must renew our political system and take action to confront a failing society, protect our vital public services and return pride and self-determination to our local communities.
David Skelton has written eloquently and with passion about the need for a coalition of the progressive centre and I do not need to add to his fine words at this juncture.
Tim Crockford, Chair of the Tory Reform Group, had also issued a call to the Party to embrace the idea of a formal coalition with the Liberal Democrats and I fully endorse his position (I will declare that I am a vice-chair of the TRG Cymru).
We stand on one of the most important junctions in the political history of this nation. Down one road lies isolationism, petty partisanship and a missed opportunity to profoundly affect the destination of this nation. The other fork will lead our Party to delivering change for Britain, renewing our democratic institutions, creating a new economic model, developing a new approach to the protection of our environment and helping the most deprived communities of this land to enjoy a greater share of this nation's wealth.
Now is the time for leadership and for courage. The Leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats need to make bold decisions and grasp this historic opportunity with both hands. For them the prize is to build a government of the radical and progressive centre ground, one which can turn our country away from top-down, state-centred solutions to one which will truly introduce the concepts of localism and the big society. My Party and the Liberal Democrats may disagree on some details, but we are united in opposing the Labour Party's obsession with Whitehall-imposed targets and the centrist instincts of Brown & co.
For the sake of this great nation, the Conservative Party must step up to the plate, grasp this opportunity and seek to govern in the national interest and head a strong and purposeful government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
We shall see which fork in the road has been taken later today (we hope!).
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