I bet right about now that the British Tories wish they had a leadership candidate as strong as Stephen Harper to run in this election, but alas they are left with David Cameron. I don't know British politics well enough to know if he was the best candidate they had available, and I don't know if Cameron would make a good Prime Minister. I know that as a Canadian, I really liked Tony Blair, even if by the end of his term he was reduced to "yo Blair" status. I also know for sure that I don't like Gordon Brown, and I would never support a party calling themselves the "Liberal Democrats". By virtue of this lack of options, David Cameron is my man and I am cheering for him to win.
I know that the Brits are afraid of a minority Parliament, because under the commonwealth democratic model, minorities are generally dysfunctional. That is the downside of a Parliament that can fall any day for a variety of reasons. The behavior of opposition parties under these circumstances revolves around crass opportunism, where the good of their own electoral prospects is placed above the good of the country. I am anxiously waiting for Canada to return to majority Government, which our democracy was designed for.
British Constitutional convention doesn't compel the Prime Minister to resign in the case of a hung parliament. There's worse reasons for Britons to not want a hung Parliament -- Labour could come in third in the election and still continue to govern.
ReplyDeleteRight now, Labour and the Lib Dems are statistically tied. Some polls have the Lib Dems holding a slight edge over Labour, some have it the other way around.
Standard projections have David Cameron and the Conservatives 40+ seats away from a majority (which isn't as big as it sounds, considering the size of the House of Commons.)