Will It Be Tories.....Will It Be Labour.....

[Flaffer]

Brown will probably try and hold on, lets face it he's unelected and brought back the odious Mandy.
Disgusting to hear the Terminators, sorry, Millibands 1 and 2 and Harman make sly digs about Ashcrofts millions - erm Lord Paul you hypocritical t****. Personally I find it more disturbing Labour being funded by sodding Unison, slight conflict of interest methinks.

[Your Funny Uncle]

So the Tories, facing an unelected and mistrusted PM, with huge advantage in campaign coffers and the (often rabid) support of the vast majority of the press have still failed to win in an electoral system skewed to make votes for anyone but the two main parties insignificant. 64% of the people have not voted for them.

Whatever coalition may come from this election, I'm hoping that it leads to electoral reform. As it is, the fact that I voted for the candidate that came a close second in my constituency means that my vote is meaningless.

[Patrick Bateman]

So the Tories, facing an unelected and mistrusted PM, with huge advantage in campaign coffers and the (often rabid) support of the vast majority of the press have still failed to win in an electoral system skewed to make votes for anyone but the two main parties insignificant. 64% of the people have not voted for them.

Only because Labour will never be deserted by the proles and immigrants on benefit who they give all our taxes to. And of course the Scottish who shouldn't even be allowed to vote now they've got their own parliament.

[Your Funny Uncle]

Only because Labour will never be deserted by the proles and immigrants on benefit who they give all our taxes to. And of course the Scottish who shouldn't even be allowed to vote now they've got their own parliament.

The Tories managed to keep power for 19 years not so long ago, if you hadn't noticed. As to core supporters I could equally say that the Tories will never be deserted by the self-interested rich people who will never be in the position to need help from the government in order to survive. I suppose that part of their problem could be that some of their traditional Xenophobe vote has been taken by UKIP and the BNP...

My point is that our electoral system is an unfair mess. I hope it's reformed and quickly.

[raggatwin]

We need a permanent worldwide workers revoulution.....

[Patrick Bateman]

The Tories managed to keep power for 19 years not so long ago, if you hadn't noticed.

The Tories never attempted to socially engineer the electorate like 'New' Labour have been doing for the last thirteen years.

[Patrick Bateman]

Latest from the BBC is that they reckon 'New' Labour will attempt to change their leader in order to cling to power.

29% of the vote and Mr. Bean as PM.

[Your Funny Uncle]

Hmmm... We might be a Con-Dem nation...

[Dipso]

I want to know how David Dimbleby kept going for so long. He did 18 straight hours on BBC1!

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/bryon ... -dimbleby/

[Patrick Bateman]

Cocaine.

[Undertaker]

What i saw of Dimbleby, he just talked over everyone. Who was that muppet sat miles away from them all, talking in riddles?

People should be fined for not voting. Even if you don't want to vote for anyone, you should still go to the polling station and declare your intention not to vote.

[Drico One]

Hmmm... We might be a Con-Dem nation...

This was always on the cards and I'd be amazed if you thought it wasn't distinctly possible before you cast your vote. We'll now see just how seriously the Lib Dems view electoral reform.

For what it's worth, I think it's possible that Clegg is simply playing a clever game of chess. Brown is constitutionally entitled to try to cobble together a government before tendering his resignation, but Clegg is terrified that Murdoch's press will accuse him of "stealing" the election if he props up a "defeated" Brown without giving the Tories their crack*. Therefore, it's in his interest to make it clear that he will speak first to Cameron. If the talks break down - which they will if the Lib Dems are serious about electoral reform - then he has his excuse to talk to Brown. Essentially, he put the ball squarely in the Tories' court knowing that they will not give him the electoral reform he needs.

Brown, meanwhile, is playing it smart too. By giving the opposition parties "as much time as they need", he cannot be accused of denying the largest party the first chance at forming a government. By making it clear that he is much more open to electoral reform (why wouldn't he be, it's the only way he can survive), he has dangled a tantalising carrot in front of Clegg that the Tories will not. Meanwhile, Labour have been busily brokering understandings with the SNP and Plaid Cymru to ensure that their support is obtainable at the right political price. This denies reluctant Liberal Democrats the chance to completely dismiss a Lib/Lab coalition as being mathematically impossible. And remember, with the exception of the DUP and Sinn Fein, almost all of the "Other" parties/seats are in play (the Alliance seat, the three SDLP seats, the Green, and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists) at the right price.

The Tories, meanwhile, will attempt to bounce Clegg into supporting their slash and burn manifesto for the rich by scaring all and sundry with talk of how "the markets" will react if the "national interest", i.e., their own party interest, isn't put first. Strangely, Germany never has these problems with the markets during their protracted coalition discussions.

Of course, I could be giving Clegg far too much credit here. He may simply be a closet Tory (unencumbered by mindless Europhobia). However, I'll be amazed if the Lib Dems support the Tories without getting a referendum on electoral reform.

Drico.

* Of course it would be nothing of the sort - the block with a majority of seats forms a government in any functioning democracy. It's quite interesting to see how many Britons view political haggling and coalition-forming as "a mess" when you live in a country with proportional representation.

[Your Funny Uncle]

No I'm not naive enough to have thought that a Con-Dem coalition couldn't happen. If it were actually to lead to a referendum on reform and perhaps another election sharpish, it might actually be a good thing. I was however hoping that a Lib-Lab alliance would be feasible without needing to get all the other parties on board.

Otherwise, what you've said is almost exactly what I'm thinking, except that I'm looking at it from the inside instead of as an interested observer...

[skyhigh]

If Brown was a handsome Englishman he'd still be in power, that's how sad politics has got.

[Undertaker]

The Sun newspaper has a big say in the outcome