By
Cecilia - 07/05/15 -
UK
David Cameron is our current Prime Minster. But will he still be on the 8th of May, when the votes have been counted? In this election, six parties are competing to rule the country; many more than we are used to. This time, it is unlikely that one single party gets enough votes to form a government on their own. Instead, we may end up with a "hung parliament" where only a party leader who is willing to collaborate with others and form a joint winning team, will get the chance to move in to nr 10 Downing Street.
The so called "political landscape" has become more complicated than it used to be in the UK. Few people dare to make a bet as to what the next government will look like after the election. Over the last decades, people in England, Scotland and Wales have been used to only two big parties, Labour and the Conservatives, standing a real chance to win enough votes to take a lead in the Houses of Parliament and to appoint a Prime Minister.
Lately, however, smaller parties have gained more support by voters. In the last election, the Liberal Democrats won such a large share of the votes that they got to govern together with Conservatives. They formed a kind of team, a coalition, where the leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, become deputy Prime Minister. The Conservatives promised to agree on some laws and changes that were important for the Lib Dems, in exchange for the Lib Dems helping the Conservatives realize their core ideas.
Even though the cooperation between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives may not be called a huge success, it has encouraged other smaller parties to try to become part of a coalition, and has showed the electorate - everyone who votes - that a vote for a smaller party is not necessarily wasted. Therefore, this time around, three more parties have set their eyes on a power position: the UK Independent Party (UKIP), the Scottish National Party (SNP), and the Green Party.
According to several recent surveys, or polls, Labour and the Conservatives have a very small chance to win a majority of the votes, i.e., to secure more than 50 percent support. Whichever of the two largest parties comes out strongest, will have to negotiate with one or more of the newcomers to form a team that together control more than half of the seats in Houses of Parliament. Only if a majority of MPs are likely to agree on the most important issues, can assume that some important work actually gets done in the Parliament until the next election. The everyday work of the MPs is to vote on different laws and policies, and if they end up not agreeing on anything at all, many necessary decisions may get delayed.
The smaller parties are very excited about the chance to be part of the next government. The larger parties are less keen on the small ones joining in. They would prefer to have their own majority, as they were used to. Ed Miliband, for example, has said that he will not work together with the SNP. Cameron says he does not like the idea of UKIP on his team. And the Lib Dems seems to be willing to help anyone if they onlly get their demands met. It is really a little like a playground squabble, and some people are worried that this development is not very good for the UK. Was it not easier before, with just two parties? Many other countries are regularly run by coalitions, for example Europe's largest economy Germany, so it is perfectly possible for a mixed team to do a good job. But it takes a bit of getting used to. Let us see when the votes are counted if there will be a "hung parliament", i.e., one where no single party has the majority.
By: All Newsnugget reporters. Joint discussions summarized.