I think we have a strange situation where both major parties are trying to 'lose' the election and be the second largest party in a hung parliament. This is how it will work:
Now imagine if the Tories formed that minority party - Labour would be back in within a year or two with a fresh start...
- General election results in no overall majority.
- PM comes from the largest minority party.
- Leader of opposition comes from second largest party.
- Economy goes tits up, as we know it will because HMG have thrown everything at boosting the 2009 Q4 figures (e.g. £2000 for bangers, lower VAT, Quantative Easing) and have little ammunition left.
- Dreaded vote of confidence at a time of the opposition's choosing, say, after a year or so of bad news, to ensure the public have noticed who was in charge.
- Minority party loses the vote of no confidence because most of the other parties vote against them.
- New general election.
- PM's minority party gets the blame for the bad news.
- Second largest party gets in with a majority, and with a new and very public mandate to try and clear up the other party's mess.
Now imagine if the Tories formed that minority party - Labour would be back in within a year or two with a fresh start...
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