Editorial
British election results
Inconclusive but eloquent
In the British general election the incumbent Labour Party has lost massively in terms of both number of seats and popular vote to the Conservative Party in a marked reversal of fortunes since 1931. But essentially the British electorate has returned a hung parliament in which the Labour Party comes second, way behind the Conservatives who have emerged with the largest number of seats but not enough of a majority to form a government on its own.
By the time this leader appears, the picture will hopefully have been clearer and some clues found as to who will form the new government. Considering that the Conservative Party led by David Cameron having secured the largest number of seats and popular vote, it appears morally better placed to form a government. That is what Nick Clegg, leader of the LDP, the third largest party to emerge in the polls, emphasised in his first reactions saying that the Conservative has the first right to be called to form a government.
Nevertheless, according to a longstanding British tradition, the incumbent prime minister Gordon Brown has the first right to be invited to form a government unless there is a government 'ready and waiting' to step in.
The most likely scenario in a hung parliament like this is either of the two major parties cobbling a coalition government to which the LDP doesn't quite hold the key but that which would be critically dependent on smaller parties. Negotiations and horse trading are coming in to play and it could lead to a major party making big concessions to smaller parties.
It has been more or less an established pattern in the British general elections that a party which has been running governments for successive terms suddenly faces a reversal of fate with the electorate seeking change in leadership. It is worth noting that the MPs' expenses scandal has worked behind unseating a large number of sitting Labour MPs including some influential ministers.
True to the exit poll predictions the electoral verdict has not yielded any surprise but the LDP's showing comes as a bit of a surprise given the profile Nick Clegg attained through the pre-election televised debate.
But who knows, the quest for political and electoral reform, the need for which was palpably felt in the backdrop of the MPs' prodigality scandal, could eventually hold sway, and the underlying message of the verdict seems to be this also. On an important sideline, a Bangladeshi British has for the first time become an MP. We wish the British people a stable government and continuing welfare.
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