UK Elections aftermath roundup. A hung parliament…

After elections, UK voters ask, ‘Now what?’

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Uncertainties in the British general election remained even through the decision day as the United Kingdom woke up Friday to its first hung parliament in 36 years.

2010 UK general election results

from Wikinews

Thursday, May 6, 2010

This table shows the results for 649 of 650 constituencies in the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom (not including the delayed constituency of Thirsk and Malton, which will hold its election on 27 May).

First hung parliament in UK for decades

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
David Cameron’s Conservatives win the most seats in the general election – but not enough to secure an overall majority.

Hung Parliament raises questions on UK security policy, Oliver Scanlan

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Oliver Scanlan

With a handful of seats yet to declare, on Friday morning it seemed certain that the United Kingdom faces a hung parliament for the first time since 1974. David Cameron?s Conservative party, despite securing the largest number of seats and mauling the incumbent Labour Party, has not been able to secure an absolute majority within the legislature.

Coverage of Britain’s uncertain election results

from Editors Weblog – all postings by Emma Heald
It is a tense day for the British public as they await news on what yesterday’s inconclusive election results mean for the future of the government. And how do news outlets cope with this?

Britain faces limbo as hung parliament looms

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Britain’s two main parties are locked in a power struggle after an inconclusive election – with Labour’s Gordon Brown suggesting he would try to form a coalition and Conservative leader David Cameron insisting the prime minister no longer has a mandate to govern. (updated)

Britain’s first female Muslim MPs elected

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Britain?s first female Muslim MPs were elected for the Labour Party in Thursday?s polls, according to a national daily.

Citizens UK hosts the party leaders, Guy Aitchison

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Guy Aitchison

The Citizens UK gathering in Westminster Methodist Hall on Monday which brought together all three party leaders was something quite breath-taking. I?ve written before about how their events combine extraordinary spectacle and political theatre with a high degree of discipline and the projection of real grassroots community power.  There were 2, 500 people in the hall from over 150 organisations, including mosques, churches, schools and ethnic groups and a small number of trade unions.

Is this democracy?!

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Guy Aitchison

The results are still coming in but it?s clear by now that this election has once again delivered an outrageous mismatch between votes and seats.

Our broken system has failed to deliver the Parliament people dared to hope for.

The breakdown:

Tories 36% of vote, 49% of the seats.
Labour 29%of vote, 42 % of the seats.
Lib Dem; 23% of vote, 9% of the seats.

No matter what the colour of your political stripes, this is grossly disproportionate and unfair

But with power in the balance we have an opportunity.

Morning Brief: Labour majority ends with hung parliament

from FP Passport by Joshua Keating

Labour majority ends with hung parliament

Top news: The Labour Party’s 13 years of majority in the British Parliament came to an end last night with Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s party losing at least 86 seats to David Cameron’s Conservatives. But with no party holding an outright majority, the country is facing its first “hung parliament” since the 1970s. Brown has signalled that he will not immediately step down, saying the results show “no clear majority for any single party.? Both leaders are expected to make statements about their plans shortly.

Britain’s election: backing into the future, David Hayes

from open Democracy News Analysis – by David Hayes

When visiting journalists first encountered the bewildering complexities of Northern Ireland?s politics at the height of the ?troubles?, a kindly piece of advice was on hand from local informants: ?If you?re not confused here, you don?t really know what?s going on.? The same pithy wisdom offers a useful working guide to anyone seeking to make sense of the 2010 general election in Britain. For this month-long campaign has been an exercise in glorious confusion that, even in its final days before voters go to the polls on 6 May, resists any certainty about the outcome.

It was not supposed to be like this…

[to read on, click here – ]

British newspapers tackle election day

from Editors Weblog – all postings by Emma Heald

sun election.pngThe UK’s election day has arrived and newspapers have embraced the topic fervently.  The Guardian has provided a useful gallery of election day newspaper front pages (as well as a gallery showing election results from 1945 onwards in the Guardian.) Pictures of Conservative leader David Cameron dominate, and the tabloids have not held back in expressing their hopes for the outcome.

UK Election: Will growth be missing at the feast?, Jeremy Hardie

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Jeremy Hardie

The story we are all supposed to share in the election campaign is that this year, next year, or sometime, but not never, the economy will recover.

Not only will this be good for employment and our prosperity, but for reducing the deficit. And we need the recovery to help with this, by increasing the tax take and reducing welfare payments. If the present deficit is about £170b., we can on this analysis reckon that it will reduce to about £70b. provided we are indeed helped by the recovery. So we only have to think about a reduction of the so-called core deficit ? say £70b.

UK General Election ? A Second Round is unavoidable?

from Social Europe Journal by Henning Meyer

? that?s at least what I think at the moment. As it looks now, even if Labour and the LibDems came to an agreement they would not have a parliamentary majority. The Conservatives and LibDems are too far apart in terms of economic policy and political reform to agree on a stable parliamentary majority for a government that is meant to last for a full parliament; even though David Cameron is trying very hard to win them over. His offers won?t be enough and the Lib Dem membership would not be happy about this either.

A historic chance to renew our politics, Nick Clegg

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Nick Clegg

OurKingdom is a cross-spectrum site, open to all good arguments concerned with democracy, liberty and power in the UK, from those in political parties – including their leaders – or in none. To our delight Nick Clegg has offered us this post. We are writing to the leaders of the other main parties and the Greens for their views on the political reform of the UK at this crucial moment when the people seem to be saying they want the system to change.

The five squanderings of the UK’s assets – the real losses behind the election everyone lost, Simon Zadek

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Simon Zadek

And who lost?well, Mr Brown clearly lost, but at least succeeded not to be slaughtered at the polls, a win of sorts compared to what might have happened. Mr Clegg lost in failing to capitalize on the ?TV Wow? that he experienced, and Mr Cameron lost, whatever is his next job, in failing to get a strong mandate from the UK electorate. His will be a disabled government at best.

MAIN FOCUS: UK faces hung parliament | 07/05/2010

from euro|topics

Everything points to a hung parliament after the elections to the British House of Commons. Although projections put David Cameron’s Conservative Party out front, it lacks the absolute majority needed to govern alone. The press notes that the Labour Party could remain in power by forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and speculates about Gordon Brown’s future.

British election offers lesson in courting the voters prosperity left behind

from washingtonpost.com – Op-Ed Columns by E.J. Dionne Jr.

Britain produced an electoral earthquake all right, but not the one so many expected. The real lessons have less to do with two-party systems than with how economic change has challenged old strategies on both the right and the left.

In British Election, Old Media Trumped New Media

from Newsweek International Editions – Top News

Cameron reaches out to the Liberal Democrats

from European Voice – RSS – News & analysis
Leader of the UK Conservatives seeks support from the Liberal Democrats in bid to form new government.

Where would a Lib Dem/Tory pact leave the EU?

by Open Europe blog team


So both Gordon Brown and David Cameron have extended an offer to the Lib Dems to begin talks to see whether some sort of coalition, however loose, could be agreed upon to form a Government. But Nick Clegg has said that it is for the Conservatives, as the largest party, to try and form a workable majority first.

UK Election: Clegg’s Lib Dem options – a decision tree, Tony Curzon Price

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Tony Curzon Price

Game theory says you need to understand your “outside options”: what the alternative to a deal with this group is. How well you do depends on how good you can make all the outside options. Here’s a go at the decision tree Clegg faces.

Debate: “A hung parliament would be hell”, Tony Curzon Price

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Tony Curzon Price

What are the arguments? I tried to do as much justice as possible to the anti-hangers on this IntelligenceSquared written debate – click through the image below for the detail. Laying it out like this, with every concession made to the anti’s and wanting to give them the best arguments they can have makes it quite clear the type of politics the anti’s are defending: managerial, anti-democratic and ultimately tinged with authoritarianism. (The full text is here, or click on the image below).

David Cameron’s first foreign-policy crisis?

from FP Passport by Joshua Keating

It’s a bit unclear who’s in charge of Britain right now, but if — as is looking more likely — David Cameron enters 10 Downing Street with either a minority government or a wacky Conservative-Liberal coalition, he’s going to have his hands full right off the bat with Argentina:

UK election: Where next?

from Nosemonkey’s EUtopia by nosemonkey

Just back from Japan, from where I was closely following the UK election on Twitter (your best place for my day-to-day political commentary these days, though be warned they?re usually more jokey ? and sweary ? than here?)

After 30 hours offline, and 44 hours after the polling booths closed, the UK still doesn?t have a new government. As such, witness the wonders of my jetlag-inspired political guesswork!


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