Electoral reform is the dark cloud on the coalition’s horizon

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics

It is a sign of how well things are going with the coalition that the civil servants left the room towards the end of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and let the politicians get on with it. The first ‘political Cabinet’ — when its members talk about party business rather than government business — was a brief affair; it only lasted about five minutes and consisted of everyone agreeing that until Labour came up with a credible position on cuts, their joint enemy was going to be isolated. But a full political Cabinet has been scheduled for the end of next month.

When the coalition was first formed, no one quite knew what would happen to political Cabinets. It was unclear whether the two parties — thrown together by the need to form a government — would feel comfortable doing politics in each other’s presence. Some Tory Cabinet members assumed that the Liberal Democrats would leave the room along with the civil servants. But as the Cabinet meetings have gone on, the two parties have grown more and more comfortable making political points in front of each other. It now seems natural for the two sides to conspire together against the enemy they face across the Commons chamber, the Labour party. It is another example of how the adversarial nature of British politics is driving the coalition partners together rather than apart.

Inside No. 10, the two sides are bonding remarkably well and seem genuinely to enjoy each other’s company. On Friday night, a Tory and a couple of Lib Dems were spotted having a drink together; if a Blairite and Brownite had been spotted sharing a beer it would have been regarded as a summit meeting rather than a social occasion.

There is, though, an event lurking on the horizon that could mean that it is never glad confident morning again for the coalition: the AV (Alternative Vote) referendum.