BRITAIN’S MEDIA has scrambled to make sense of the situation the country finds itself in since last Thursday’s election resulted in the predicted hung parliament.
In the Tory-leaning press, there were honeyed words for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems, in the hope the party will forge a deal that would usher in David Cameron as the first Conservative prime minister in 13 years.
But the eagerness to see a Tory-Lib Dem pact – or "the dream ticket" as the Timesput it on Saturday – was laced with a subtle yet unmistakable anger and disappointment that Mr Cameron failed to deliver a majority.
Gordon Brown was the focus of much ire – the Daily Telegraph'sBenedict Brogan described him as a "calculating politician . . . angling for survival" – while the Sunwent for the jugular, with a Saturday front page headlined "Squatter holed up in No 10", despite the constitutional requirement for Mr Brown to remain as prime minister.
The Daily Mail'sheadline screamed "Now for the shabby deals" on Saturday. Columnist Stephen Glover sniped that Mr Cameron didn't win outright because "he was scared of sounding too Tory".
The left-leaning papers tried to make the best of the dilemma, with some seeing a chance for electoral reform.
Several commentators argued in favour of a Lib Dem-Labour coalition. The headline in Saturday's Daily Mirror, Labour's sole media cheerleader in the run-up to the election, asked: "Any chance of a Clegg-up?" The paper warned the Lib Dem leader against "Bullingdon Boys and their allies bearing empty gifts", and argued that together Labour and the Lib Dems have a mandate.
The Financial Timesleader mused that "the British electorate has decided not to decide", and concluded: "In the national interest, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg should strike a deal."
Yesterday, the Sunday Telegraphargued that party politics must be put aside for the sake of the country, and warned against the prospect of Mr Cameron leading a "vulnerable minority government through the storms ahead".