Kingmaker Clegg weighs up rivals’ offers to form government
The Liberal Democrat leader faces an agonising 24 hours as he decides whether to pave the way for David Cameron to lead a minority government or enable Gordon Brown to maintain his “squatter’s rights” to stay on in No 10 Downing Street.
Clegg’s personal disappointment at seeing the “Cleggmania” bubble blow up in his face, with the Lib Dems losing rather than gaining seats, may be offset by the powerful role he will now play in determining who will lead the country.
It is a huge personal dilemma for Clegg as well as his party.
Their hopes of finally achieving an electoral breakthrough had been raised to unrealistic levels by the hype surrounding Clegg’s emergence as the apparent winner of the first-ever televised leaders’ debates.
Now they have been dashed and the party has to engage in political horse-trading which will have major implications for the future government of the country, as well as the Lib Dems’ own future.
Clegg stuck by his pledge during the campaign that the party which secured the most votes and the most seats had the right to try first to form a government.
Even Gordon Brown, defiantly asserting his constitutional right to stay put in Downing Street in his role as a “caretaker” prime minister, acknowledged that Cameron and Clegg should first see if they could reach a deal.
An agreement to support a minority Conservative government would enable Clegg to argue that he had acted in the national interest and was allowing the Conservatives, who had won the most seats, to have a go at governing.
Some form of Conservative-Lib Dem deal could result in the most stable government, commanding a majority in the Commons on key measures such as the Queen’s Speech and Budget.
It would probably go some way to reassuring the financial markets – and preventing a run on sterling if the uncertainty continues into next week.
Cameron has gone out of his way to tempt the Lib Dems, emphasising areas of agreement on policies such as education and the environment.
Senior Tories are even dropping hints that offering Lib Dems some cabinet seats could be on the table – and there will now be further discussions between Clegg and Cameron on political and economic reform.
There are still big differences between the two parties on issues such as Europe, immigration and the future of the Trident nuclear deterrent. But electoral reform remains the biggest sticking point – and Cameron’s offer of an all-party inquiry is unlikely to satisfy most Lib Dems who are feeling badly bruised by the outcome of the election held under what they regard as the discredited first-past-the-post system.
Gordon Brown has made clear he will be waiting outside the church if Cameron and Clegg fail to tie the knot. He is offering the Lib Dems immediate legislation on a referendum on reform of the electoral system – which is highly tempting as Clegg ended up with fewer Westminster seats despite gaining more votes.
But that would mean the Lib Dems taking the gamble of keeping in office a prime minister who had been effectively rejected by the country. Two parties which had lost ground at the election would be combining together to keep out of government the one that had gained the most votes and most seats.
And the Lib Dems might be seen by the voters as putting their own party interests for PR ahead of those of the voters at a time when stability and tackling the economic deficit are top of the agenda.
The televised debates at times appeared to turn the election into an X-Factor personality contest. Now another TV game show sums up the political situation – Deal Or No Deal.
The voters could not make up their mind on Thursday night. Now the politicians will have to do it for them. And whoever gets the keys to No 10 Downing Street is likely to call another general election soon to see if the voters can finally reach a decision on who should govern the country.
