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So the morning after the night before and here we are with a Hung Parliament. My personal wish was for a Cameron Government with a working majority as best for the UK as a whole but sadly not to be or…is it sad ? I have written before that a large part of the British Public have demonstrated quite infantile behaviour in not wishing to face up to the reality of our current economic situation in the UK and therefore the remedies required to correct it.

It may well be that this election result may well provide the necessary impetus to bring both reality and acceptance to the public at large…

Some Delight…

Although in my particular constituency our sitting Conservative MP Heathcoat Amory lost to a LibDem woman called Munt, Grunt or something, it must be only one among few gains for Clegg’s mob. In addition the sitting MP was caught in the “Expenses Scandal” and being the West Country, it all swings around the Tories and the LibDems, Labour doesn’t get a look in. But for all that, the LibDems have had a very poor Election night indeed and ended up not only having made no overall gains but indeed, even to having lost seats – Hooray !

This of course will set up the next part of the game because “Cleggomania” not having translated into anything at the Ballot Box will undoubtedly lead to more claims for Proportional Representation by Clegg on the grounds that it “Isn’t fair to us !”

A Formal/Informal Coalition…

There are two factors at play here, Gordon Brown who just won’t let go of the job he lusted after for so many years and Nick Clegg who must be devastated at the results for the LibDems, he is the biggest loser from all this for sure so, what will happen ?

Almost certainly there will be an attempt by Brown to form a coalition with the LibDems but even, combined they would not have an overall majority and need the other and smaller Celtic based parties to support them. A Con/Lib formation would have the numbers to form a stable Government but the LibDems would have a major problem with Cameron who has firmly set his face against getting rid of ‘First Past the Post’, will renew Trident and won’t roll-over for the EU the way the LibDems would.

Additionally, Cameron has already said that he is prepared to lead a minority Government and all he has to say is that his Government would concentrate on resolving the Deficit problem and any specifically “Tory policies” would have to wait on that being resolved. What Cameron should not do is rely on the LibDems as coalition partners, they would be next to useless.

A Problem for All Three

Whatever the permutations, it is a difficult position for each of the three party leaders although I suspect that Cameron has the better situation with more flexibility than the other two who both in their slightly different ways, have been defeated.

It is a nonsense for Gordon Brown to say that as the Tories don’t have an overall majority and Labour having lost some 90 seats, he/they will not give way and instead try to form a coalition with the LibDems which would still not deliver and overall majority to such a Government. Surely from a political perspective for bothe Labour and the LibDems, better for the Tories to grab the shitty end of the stick and Labour having made the mess, sit back in opposition having a chortle about it all.

Whatever Happens

On this General Election, the public have lost their courage and ran away from dealing with the issues but this has only put off the ‘day’, whatever happens we shall most likely have another Election within the year, my money would be March/April 2011 but if things went very badly, this Autumn could be possible and historically, most likely and neither the LibDems or Labour could easily afford to fund that.

Gordon Brown’s political career is finished and Nick Clegg, perhaps quite unfairly, may not last too long because the LibDems are that stupid as was demonstrated over the removal of Charlie Kennedy from the Leadership. Even if their price of a ‘pact’ including getting rid of Brown and PR was accepted by Labour and it would be, both Labour and the LibDems would cause themselves considerable political damage by entering into such an ‘alliance’.

I suspect that their very real fear and they are correct in this, is that even a Cameron minority Government providing it dumped policies such as those over IHT and married couples tax allowances for now and instead governed in the ‘National Interest’, could run rings around them. No matter what the issue, simply by making all the information public, as they didn’t create the mess, they have no past policy mistakes to ‘make good’ as Brown has, they can be open and honest talking about “The New Politics” they are creating.

The situation would be even worse if the LibDems and Labour made a pact to keep Labour in power because as a opposition with the largest number of seats, the Conservatives could be lethal. It is also worth remembering that there is a substantial number of Labour MPs also who don’t want the voting system changed so, quite a few problems there for any coalition Government.

We live in interesting times, it seems.