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www.theaustralian.com.au
- From: The Australian
- May 07, 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown smiles after retaining his parliamentary seat as his wife Sarah looks on in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. Picture: Getty Images
GORDON Brown will attempt to form a minority government with the Liberal Democrats to keep the Conservatives out of power in Britain, after a chaotic election that has produced no clear result.
In a turn of events unthinkable just weeks ago, Mr Brown is a chance of remaining Prime Minister after David Cameron’s Tories failed to achieve an outright majority in today’s poll.
The Tories are angry at Downing Street’s apparent attempts to cling on to power, with Mr Cameron arguing that Labour had “lost its mandate”.
But senior Labour figures including powerbroker Peter Mandelson pointed out that despite the Tories emerging as the largest party, Mr Brown as the incumbent Prime Minister would automatically have the first shot at trying to form a government.
The BBC reported that sources told them talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats were already under way.
Voter chaos marred the election, as a major exit poll showed a hung parliament with the Conservatives falling short of an outright majority but having a viable chance of replacing Mr Brown.
The exit poll by the BBC and other broadcasters predicted that the Conservatives would win 305 seats, 95 more than they held before but still 21 short of a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.
Labour would end up with 255 while the Liberal Democrats were tipped to win only 61, one down on their previous standing.
In actual results so far, the Tories have gained 39 seats, Labour lost 36 and the Lib Dems two - adding to their woes of failing to gain Guildford, their top-priority target seat.
The election was marked by widespread voter anger and protests after thousands of people were turned away at some polling stations at the 10pm close.
The Electoral Commission will investigate the voting problems due to unexpectedly high turnout, with commission head Jenny Watson telling Sky News: "We’ve been saying for some time that the system we have is at breaking point."
Chief returning officer David Monks said the widespread failures may lead to by-elections in the next few weeks as disenfranchised citizens challenge results.
Labour could try to team up with the Liberal Democrats to govern if the exit polls are proved to be accurate.
Mr Brown, in his victory speech for the Scottish seat of Kircaldy, said: "My duty to the country coming out of the election is to play my part in Britain having a strong and stable and principled government."
Peter Mandelson, Labour powerbroker and Mr Brown's de facto deputy, gave the closest sign yet Labour was mulling a deal with the Liberal Democrats to keep power.
Mr Mandelson said on Sky News: “You don't have to sound quite so horrified. Obviously we would be prepared to consider that.”
He also stressed that the constitutional position was “very clear”, adding: “The rules are that if it's a hung parliament, it's not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go -- it's the sitting government.”
But in his victory speech in Witney, Mr Cameron said: “We have to wait for the full results to come out, but I believe it is already clear that the Labour government has lost its mandate to govern our country.
“Although there are still many more results to come out, it looks as if the Conservative party is on target to actually win more seats at this election than we've done at any election for perhaps as long as 80 years.”
There are some doubts about the accuracy of the exit poll but if its forecast result is translated into seats as official counting is conducted over the next day or so it raises two possibilities for the next government.
If Mr Brown can convince the Liberal Democrats to enter a coalition they could form a government if they won the support of minor parties from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
But Mr Cameron might also form a minority government and seek the support of unionist MPs from Northern Ireland and nationalists from Scotland and perhaps Wales.
Either major party would have to pay a heavy price to the MPs from Northern Ireland and Scotland by promising to protect their voters from some of the spending cuts that the next government must make to repair the nation's budget.
In the first major scalp of the night, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson lost his seat amid a scandal involving him and his wife.
The exit poll is unlikely to be perfectly accurate, with complications including the rise of the Liberal Democrats during the campaign making this contest much more of a three-way race, making it harder to predict how the number of votes would translate into seats in parliament.
And exit polls are unable to detect patterns in postal voting and one in six votes were cast by mail this year, many of them in mid-campaign when the Lib Dems were at their height.
One candidate, Nick Farage, from the UK Independence Party, was taken to hospital shortly after polls opened saying he was “lucky to be alive” after an election stunt in a light aircraft went wrong.
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