A bizarre result for our Democracy

So we have a hung parliament. A large shift to the Conservatives but not large enough for them to form a government.

Conservative			36.0% ie	+3.9%
Labour			29.3% ie	-6.3%
Liberal Democrat			22.9 ie	+1.0%

The first thing that leaps out is how poor the Liberal Democrats performed. They ran a good campaign. They did very well in the leaders debates and they gained lots of extra exposure. Unfortunately, with extra exposure comes extra scrutiny. Policies such as joining the Euro and an amnesty on illegal immigrants have clearly not gone down well. It is reassuring that people have looked at policy rather than TV persona.

Another reassuring matter is the high turnout. I hope that if a hung parliament cannot be configured and we need a second ballot then the turnout will remain high. If people lose their voice because of boredom then we are all in trouble.

What is truly bizarre about the result is that a Lab/Lib coalition cannot form a government. They will need the support of Plaid Cymru and the SNP for this. In return Plaid have already asked for £0.3 billion extra to their budget. The SNP will also doubtless ask for scottish public sector workers to be partially insulated from the coming cuts. So such a coalition will be a bad result for people in England.

The regional variations are fascinating. In England as things currently stand the Conservatives have 56% of the seats (but only 40% of the vote - that's why we need PR). This means that the people of England have chosen a Conservative government. In NI, Wales and Scotland the Conservatives have only 8 seats out of 119, just 7%. The devolved regions have rejected the Tories as an English party.

This is the true cost of devolution. The people of England have had their choice rejected by regions of Britain that have their own parliament. Budget cuts will now affect the people of England much more severely. Look at the constituency map here. Look how small the devolved regions are. Look how the map is dominated by red and blue. And remember that none of this matters. That orange and green and yellow are deciding the outcome of who loses their jobs and services.

I did not want the Conservatives to win (see earlier posts). I didn't want any of the big three to win. But I didn't want this. For the good of England I'm going to swallow my ideological preferences and say that the Conservatives should be the party to form a government. They got the most votes and the most seats. It won't be so bad - the opposition will be strong enough to keep the Tories in check.

One thing is for certain. Either way Gordon Brown is finished. Only an English Prime Minister will do now for a Lib/Lab pact.