BRITAIN’S LIBERAL Democrats have denied making a decision to support a minority Conservative Party government if this is the result the general election, expected in May, throws up.
Yesterday it was reported that party leader Nick Clegg favoured such a course if he were to get clear commitments about extra education funding, fairer taxation, electoral reforms and the promotion of a “green economy”.
Saying that no post-election decisions had been made, deputy leader Vince Cable said a hung parliament could be “in the national interest” because “it could force parties to work together in a way that single-party government wouldn’t”.
The Liberal Democrats have already been offered a partial voting reform by Labour, though not one that goes as far as conceding its demand for proportional representation.
Last week former party leader Menzies Campbell said he could not see the Lib Dems supporting either a Labour Party that had lost an election or a Conservative Party that refused fundamental electoral reform.
But he said Liberal support might be on offer if legislation to replace the first-past-the-post system by the Alternative Vote – where candidates are elected once they have got 50 per cent of the vote – was made ready.
Mr Brown has already promised a referendum on AV and a majority of MPs last week, despite Tory opposition, agreed that one would be held by October if Labour was returned.
However, Mr Clegg is wary of supporting a minority administration led by Mr Brown, believing that the loss of Labour’s majority would mean voters wanted him removed. But there is a danger that any perceived preference for the Tories – the greatest electoral threat to the Liberals in their southwestern England strongholds – could lead voters to simply opt for stable Tory rule.
Equally, such support would leave the party at risk of being ditched at the earliest opportunity by the Conservative leader, David Cameron, if he judged that a majority could be won through a quick second election.
Opinion polls currently predict a hung parliament as the most likely result. The United Kingdom has not had a coalition government since the war, though in 1977 Labour and the Liberals had a temporary pact.