O/t Political question

[Lenny Rider]

Can anyone settle an office argument please.

Would we have to have a general election if the coalition broke down, if Clegg fell out with CMD could he just do a deal with Miliband and the rest of the 'rainbow' coalition and form a new government without a new poll?

If Cam/Clegg fell out don't we have to dissolve parliament?

 

[e77]

Cameron would probably attempt to govern without an absolute majority (Major did it for a while).

To get rid of him a vote of no confidence would have to be passed.

 

[Acker79]

Can anyone settle an office argument please.

Would we have to have a general election if the coalition broke down, if Clegg fell out with CMD could he just do a deal with Miliband and the rest of the 'rainbow' coalition and form a new government without a new poll?

If Cam/Clegg fell out don't we have to dissolve parliament?

I don't know if there is a legal obligation to, but if the coalition broke down, neither part would be getting what they want done, government would pretty much stop working and they would have a moral obligation to call another general election.

 

[The Large One]

They don't have to dissolve Parliament, and Cameron could try and continue with a minority government, but it wouldn't take long for them to realise they wouldn't be able to continue to govern - not with a minority of - what was it? 22? 25?

Cameron would then go to the Queen and ask for Parliament to be dissolved.

 

[strings]

There could be a couple of different senarios.

Firstly, the Tories could govern as a minority government. It would be a lot of work as they would need to negotiate with the other parties on every single policy in order to get policy through, but it could happen. In this senario, there is the possibility of all ther other parties putting together a no confidence vote against the government.

Alternatively, another coalition could be negotiated, this would almost certainly have to be very near to or beyond the 50% threshold in order to be successful. This could include a Tory-Labour coalition (very unlikely), or a 'coalition of the losers'.

The falling apart of a coalition does not have to result in an election. However, if parliament fails to govern following a split, an election would be a near-certainty.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

They are going to pass a law (similar to Scotland) that locks in a 5 year Parliament but also gives a 55% threshold for a no-confidence vote to work. That would mean that the Conservatives could govern without the Lib Dems but in practice that wouldn't work as they would win no votes.

Practically though the Lib Dems are now with the Tories for the long term. They've been hit electroally in the short term by going into the coalition and will only come out of it well if they continue with the Tories.

And in any case, they are hardly likely to want to go to Labour after what Harman said. Does anyone actually like Harriet Harman?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Can anyone settle an office argument please.

Would we have to have a general election if the coalition broke down, if Clegg fell out with CMD could he just do a deal with Miliband and the rest of the 'rainbow' coalition and form a new government without a new poll?

If Cam/Clegg fell out don't we have to dissolve parliament?

Give it a year and you'll find out.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Practically though the Lib Dems are now with the Tories for the long term. They've been hit electroally in the short term by going into the coalition and will only come out of it well if they continue with the Tories.

And in any case, they are hardly likely to want to go to Labour after what Harman said. Does anyone actually like Harriet Harman?

Good point about Harman, she's never quite rung true as a leftie. A comfortably-off opportunist might be more accurate.

And I don't see the LibDems have anywhere to go, they have to stay in now even if they're being walked all over. Which they increasingly are. I can't see Clegg walking out on a point of principle, he just isn't going to do it.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Good point about Harman, she's never quite rung true as a leftie. A comfortably-off opportunist might be more accurate.

And I don't see the LibDems have anywhere to go, they have to stay in now even if they're being walked all over. Which they increasingly are. I can't see Clegg walking out on a point of principle, he just isn't going to do it.

Has Christmas come early?

Has Clegg been given some principles.

Previous posters are correct about the possible outcomes,but the LibDems will only walk out of the coalition into political oblivion,so they'll stay in as the lap dogs they are until the next election,when political meltdown awaits them.Unless they cross the divide and become tory party members they'll have no more influence on the British political scene.Tories won't have them ,Labour won't have them,and more importantly voters won't have them.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Give it a year and you'll find out.

Care for a £20 REMF bet on that?