Problems Associated With Hung Parliaments. Part One

The possibility of a "Hung Parliament" resulting from the general election in the UK on the sixth of May seems to have increased greatly. The website for Parliament can be searched for information in regard to hung parliaments. Standard note SN/PC/04951 under Library House of Commons, written by Lucinda Maer yields examples from 1900 to date. The Cabinet Office has published a Draft Chapter of the Cabinet Manual that covers aspects related to the formation of Government, this includes that of a Hung Parliament.

After about two hours of searching through and reading different solutions to the problem of Hung Parliaments I came to the firm conclusion that all that I had read provided pretty conclusive proof that we need to at least make a start on a written constitution. At the moment we seem to be relying on, in effect, "case law". To the best of my knowledge very little is chiselled in stone and quite a lot is cobbled [pun there] up to suit the situation at the time.

One method of dealing with the problem is for the leader of the party with the largest number of seats to form a "Minority Government". A great deal of discussion probably takes place, behind different closed doors, prior to the gathering in the House that ends with one MP having sufficient backing to meet the Queen and gain her approval to form a government. Such a minority government may last a long time due to various reasons, one being by avoiding matters that are likely to cut across any major beliefs of a majority of the opposition. Another is that many of the MPs, or a particular party, do not want to trigger another election until they consider their chances of being elected again are maximised.

Another way of overcoming a hung parliament is to form a coalition government. One could argue that as that coalition could represent a majority of voters it satisfies an underlying principle of democracy. As an over simplified example, if party A wins 40% of the seats and parties B and C 30% each then a coalition of B and C means that 20% more of the voters are represented in government, it could even ensure that the coalition government runs a full term.

My next blog will be Part Two of Problems Associated With Hung Parliaments, thank you

Frederick W Gilling Wednesday 21 April 2010