With even Michael Portillo predicting a hung parliament, what would Britain’s post-election government actually look like if the Tories did not secure an over-all majority.
The Tories could form a minority government, hoping to persuade enough MPs from other parties, but principally the Liberal Democrats, to vote with them on the key issues. Such a government would be inherently unstable, lurching from vote to vote and dependent on the relationship between a Prime Minister Cameron and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, as well as between George Osborne, the would-be Chancellor, and Vince Cable, who many think is a more qualified potential occupant of No 11. Party leaders would always be eyeing each other with suspicion, fearful that David Cameron would call a quick follow-up election.
The second option is to build some kind of coalition, where the Conservatives and the other parties bat Labour back a series of policies. This is also problematic, as the Tories and the Liberal Democrats disagree on a number of key issues, including electoral reform – the issue that tore Tony Blair away from Paddy Ashdown after the 1997 election.
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