Anarchy in the UK

By Elias Isquith

As voters across the UK headed to the polls for the first time in 5 years last Thursday, no one was quite sure what the results would be. More than 48 hours since the results, which had David Cameron's Conservative Party holding the highest percentage of the popular vote (36%) and the most seats in Parliament (305), things may be even more unclear.

This is primarily due to the fact that although the Tories were the most successful of the three major parties, beating out Nick Clegg's upstart Liberal Democrats as well as incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party, they fell well short of the 326 necessary to hold an outright majority. Negotiations with the Liberal Democrats began almost immediately. But while the two groups share some ideological ground - both are, on economic policy, to Labour's right and both are looking to enact tax cuts and significant educational reform - reports indicate that the Tories have not been sufficiently willing to propose electoral reform, a fundamental Liberal Democrat goal.

If Cameron and Clegg were unable to forge a compromise, so it was thought, the Tories would be forced to govern with a minority. It would be first time such a government ruled in the UK since 1974, when Labour - to disastrous results - did the same.

But, in a surprising move that most are interpreting as an overture by Labour to the LibDems, Gordon Brown today announced his plans to reign as leader of the Labour Party in September, once his successor had been chosen. Labour and the LibDems have far more, ideologically, in common that the LibDems do with the Conservatives, but, even if the two were to join forces, they would still need to assemble what some are calling a "Progressive Coalition" - including smaller nationalist parties - to hold a majority in Parliament.

In short, things are moving very, very quickly - and they're quite messy, indeed.

My personal take: I don't see much of the upside for the LibDems to join with the Tories. Much of their base is young, progressive, and anti-Tory. A party that had a meteoric rise in the weeks before the vote - largely because of its image as an 'outsider' force - is unlikely to be able to translate a supplicant-position in a center-right government into future political success. Especially if the government in question is one that will be responsible for many unpopular public service cuts (a response to the UK's enormous budget problems).

The biggest stumbling block towards a coalition with Labour, however, was the aforementioned Brown, a profoundly unpopular politician who had the misfortune of becoming PM after 11 years of Tony Blair and before the greatest international financial crisis since the Great Depression. With Brown no longer an option as PM, the LibDems have much more room to negotiate. A Clegg PM-ship with a Labour cabinet may even be a possibility. But don't count the Tories out just yet.

In any event, here's a feed to an up-to-the-minute update of what's going on that's sure to be must-read material for those following the most confusing and exciting election the UK's had in a long, long time.