Tory head Cameron claims reins after indecisive UK vote
Source: Agencies |
May 8, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron claimed the right to govern Britain, appealing to the center-left Liberal Democrats yesterday to join him in forming a government and attempting to calm financial markets spooked by an unresolved election.
Cameron's Tories won the most seats in Thursday's vote but did not take enough seats to form a majority, prompting a competition with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party for support from the third-place Liberal Democrats.
Cameron told reporters a stable government was needed quickly to calm markets and said the Tories would promise to implement parts of Liberal Democratic election manifesto -- but stopped short of offering to fulfill their demand of electoral reform.
He offered the party, and their leader Nick Clegg, an all-party committee of inquiry to examine the issue.
"I want to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats," Cameron said.
Brown went further in a similar public approach to the Liberal Democrats, saying he agreed with their demands.
Reform call
"My view is clear -- there needs to be immediate legislation on this to begin to restore the public trust in politics and to improve Parliament's standing and reputation, a fairer voting system is central," Brown said in comments clearly aimed at the third-place party.
Clegg did not immediately respond in public but said earlier that the party that had gained the most seats and the most votes -- the Conservatives -- should have "the first right to seek to govern."
Labour came second in Thursday's vote, which for the first time since the 1970s produced no outright winner. With five seats left to report, the Conservatives had 36 percent support, compared to 29 percent for Labour and 23 percent for the Liberal Democrats.
As sitting prime minister, Brown would traditionally be given the first chance to put together a government. His left-of-center Labour Party is seen as a more natural coalition fit with the Liberal Democrats.
Market jitters
Many of the Conservative party's old guard distrust the Liberal Democrats' pro-European leanings and fiercely oppose its call for proportional representation, which would make it hard for any single party to hold power alone -- effectively shutting out the Conservatives indefinitely.
"The Tories would fight it (electoral reform) tooth and nail," said Bill Jones, professor of politics at Liverpool Hope University. "It's like asking a turkey to vote for Christmas."
Labour is much more amenable to demands for electoral reform, but even a deal with the Liberal Democrats would leave them a few seats short of a majority, meaning they would have to turn to Scottish and Welsh nationalists for further support.
Days, and possibly weeks, of political horse-trading could lie ahead -- a prospect that gave the financial markets jitters.
As the pound and the FTSE-100 index fell sharply, pressure mounted for a quick solution.
Cameron's Tories won the most seats in Thursday's vote but did not take enough seats to form a majority, prompting a competition with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party for support from the third-place Liberal Democrats.
Cameron told reporters a stable government was needed quickly to calm markets and said the Tories would promise to implement parts of Liberal Democratic election manifesto -- but stopped short of offering to fulfill their demand of electoral reform.
He offered the party, and their leader Nick Clegg, an all-party committee of inquiry to examine the issue.
"I want to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats," Cameron said.
Brown went further in a similar public approach to the Liberal Democrats, saying he agreed with their demands.
Reform call
"My view is clear -- there needs to be immediate legislation on this to begin to restore the public trust in politics and to improve Parliament's standing and reputation, a fairer voting system is central," Brown said in comments clearly aimed at the third-place party.
Clegg did not immediately respond in public but said earlier that the party that had gained the most seats and the most votes -- the Conservatives -- should have "the first right to seek to govern."
Labour came second in Thursday's vote, which for the first time since the 1970s produced no outright winner. With five seats left to report, the Conservatives had 36 percent support, compared to 29 percent for Labour and 23 percent for the Liberal Democrats.
As sitting prime minister, Brown would traditionally be given the first chance to put together a government. His left-of-center Labour Party is seen as a more natural coalition fit with the Liberal Democrats.
Market jitters
Many of the Conservative party's old guard distrust the Liberal Democrats' pro-European leanings and fiercely oppose its call for proportional representation, which would make it hard for any single party to hold power alone -- effectively shutting out the Conservatives indefinitely.
"The Tories would fight it (electoral reform) tooth and nail," said Bill Jones, professor of politics at Liverpool Hope University. "It's like asking a turkey to vote for Christmas."
Labour is much more amenable to demands for electoral reform, but even a deal with the Liberal Democrats would leave them a few seats short of a majority, meaning they would have to turn to Scottish and Welsh nationalists for further support.
Days, and possibly weeks, of political horse-trading could lie ahead -- a prospect that gave the financial markets jitters.
As the pound and the FTSE-100 index fell sharply, pressure mounted for a quick solution.
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