Yes, there is such a thing. Recent elections in the United Kingdom have resulted in the forming of a coalition government fronted by the Conservative party leader, David Cameron (being the youngest Prime Minister in over 200 years), and having Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrat party as the government’s Deputy Prime Minister. This unusual combination of political ideologies followed Gordon Brown’s (Labour) resignation at 10 Downing Street.

With the economic crisis shaking up the world, not excluding the British Isles, and with the unemployment rate being at its highest in years, the leaders of running parties were afraid of low turnout at the election polls. Official recording of numbers of voters started in 1945, and since then the lowest figure was that of 2001, when the turnout first hit bellow the 60th percentile. During this year’s general elections the turnout was somewhat higher, going up to 65.1%, but not without heated comments. It is said that several thousand voters were not able to cast their vote because they were turned down at the polls. Since only those citizens who managed to have gotten inside the polling stations before 10pm, time at which the stations closed, were able to vote, many were infuriated by the fact that they could not decide on their own future.

In the build-up to the elections, British citizens saw a spectacle during the dynamic campaigns of three leading parties: the Conservatives, commonly referred to as Tories; Labour, party of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the LibDems. The Conservatives were fairly certain of their victory, basing their campaign on knowing people’s wishes “not to have another five years of Gordon Brown”. As a party who was having the toughest time during the past few years and never being the governing one, it took a lot of effort from their leaders such as David Cameron, George Osborne and London mayor Boris Johnson to take the party out of the opposition.

The Labour Party, on the other hand, had been governing Britain for the last 13 years. Ever since Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as Labour’s party leader and as Prime Minister, Brown had rough times to endure. The country was in biggest recession since World War II, and the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not helping either. Nor did Brown’s PR skills by the way, culminating in a YouTube clip from a Sky News broadcast where he was caught calling a faithful Labour voter “a bigoted woman”.

Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats based their campaign on fair taxes, childcare, and a greener economy. During the national TV debate on April 16, Clegg was praised as a winner and many believed that he had disrupted the powerful campaigns of his Conservative and Labour rivals. Carried on the wings of winning a battle, they forgot to continue to yearn for a win in the election war.

After counting the votes, and 649 of 649 constituencies declaring results, Britain was left with a ‘hung parliament’, with no party securing the majority to form a government. The Conservative party won 306 seats in the Parliament, the Labour Party was second with 258, followed by 57 seats won by the Liberal Democrats, and other parties having 28. The country was left at a standstill while the party leaders were busy with their negotiation teams, in meetings, trying to find the best possible solution for the rather unexpected voting outcome. Liberal Democrats could have joined a minority government with the Labour party. Ideologically, the LibDems are closer to Labour than that they are to the Conservatives. Instead, Nick Clegg decided to accept Cameron’s offer and form a cabinet consisting of Liberals and Conservatives.

After both of the leaders of the two biggest parties had their formal visit to queen Elisabeth II, Gordon Brown announced his resignation in front of 10 Downing Street. David Cameron showed up only minutes later for a press conference declaring a new government was formed with the blessings of Her Majesty. The Liberal-Conservative coalition signed an agreement focusing on areas such as deficit reduction, spending review, tax measures, banking reform, immigration, political reform, pensions and welfare, education, relations with the EU, civil liberties, and environment. This document is the starting platform for the upcoming five years in office. |