Well after all that, the election results are in but with no clear majority. Britain has a hung Parliament for the first time in 36 years. (link via Channel 4 News)
Gordon Brown is still Prime Minister - but for how much longer? Should Brown resign?
The Conservative Party has the most votes and the most seats and have the right to govern but the Conservatives are 20 short of the 326 seat threshold for an outright majority.
Brown is waiting to see if David Cameron will be able to form a government with the Liberal Democrats. Their leader, Nick Clegg, now has the nickname "Kingmaker" because both the Tories and the Labour parties need the Liberal Democrat's support to to form a government.
Nick Clegg announced today that the Tories have earned the right to govern (the Conservative Party has most votes and most seats) by coalition, and that he had promised he would support the Party that got the most votes. Nick Clegg is doing the honourable thing, even though he knows it's not a popular decision.
And Brown acknowledged that the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have the first chance to establish a coalition but also made it clear that he would be willing to form a coalition with Nick Clegg, if the Liberal Democrats and Conservative deal breaks down.
Mr Cameron spoke today about a possible deal: "I want to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats. I want us to work together in tackling our country's big and urgent problems - the debt crisis, our deep social problems and our broken political system." David Cameron also pointed out their common agreement about issues such as civil liberties and getting rid of the ID cards.
So, is a Conservative/Liberal Democrats coalition a real possibility? I have to say that I'm hoping it is. I'm particularly happy about the promise to get rid of the ID cards.
What are your thoughts about the election? Did you vote? There were reports about some people who tried to vote but were turned away at 10pm when the polling stations closed even though they arrived well before closing time. Were you one of those people who were turned away?
What do you think about a hung Parliament?
Do you think a Conservative/Lib Dems coalition could work?
Do you think another Genaral Election will be called soon?
It will be very interesting to see what happens next!
Showing posts with label UK General Election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK General Election. Show all posts
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
UK General Election 2010: The Final Leadership Debate
Eight million people watched the final leaders' debate last night between the leaders of the three main parties:
The questions from audience members were about spending cuts, taxes, taxpayers funding the banks while ordinary people are worse off, how to rebuild the country's manufacturing industries, immigration, housing, abuse of the benefits system, and education.
In his opening remark, Gordon Brown made a passing reference to his embarrassing blunder on Wednesday (when he left his microphone on after an encounter with a woman in Rochdale so he was heard calling her 'a bigoted woman') :
"There's a lot to this job, and as you saw yesterday I don't get all of it right. But I do know how to run the economy in the good times and in the bad.”
All three leaders seemed in a fighting spirit and there were times when some of the bickering seemed to be quite intense, particularly when Brown and Cameron had a heated exchange about inheritance tax.
The discussion about immigration was interesting but it had all been said before in a previous debate. I'm still shocked that Nick Clegg proposes an amnesty for illegal immigrants. It's rather a slap in the face for those of us (like me) who came here legally.
About housing. Cameron said stamp duty should be removed for the first £250,000 and that there should be changes to planning rules so more houses could be built. Clegg proposed converting empty properties into more homes. Brown stressed the need to get building societies and banks to start lending again.
I've only mentioned a few points from the debate. A full transcript of last night's leaders' debate is available on the BBC website.
I wonder if any of the televised debates had much impact on voters. Did you watch last night's debate? Did it change your views in any way about how you would vote?
- The incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown
- The leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party leader, David Cameron
- The leader of the Liberal Democrats party, Nick Clegg
The questions from audience members were about spending cuts, taxes, taxpayers funding the banks while ordinary people are worse off, how to rebuild the country's manufacturing industries, immigration, housing, abuse of the benefits system, and education.
In his opening remark, Gordon Brown made a passing reference to his embarrassing blunder on Wednesday (when he left his microphone on after an encounter with a woman in Rochdale so he was heard calling her 'a bigoted woman') :
"There's a lot to this job, and as you saw yesterday I don't get all of it right. But I do know how to run the economy in the good times and in the bad.”
All three leaders seemed in a fighting spirit and there were times when some of the bickering seemed to be quite intense, particularly when Brown and Cameron had a heated exchange about inheritance tax.
The discussion about immigration was interesting but it had all been said before in a previous debate. I'm still shocked that Nick Clegg proposes an amnesty for illegal immigrants. It's rather a slap in the face for those of us (like me) who came here legally.
About housing. Cameron said stamp duty should be removed for the first £250,000 and that there should be changes to planning rules so more houses could be built. Clegg proposed converting empty properties into more homes. Brown stressed the need to get building societies and banks to start lending again.
I've only mentioned a few points from the debate. A full transcript of last night's leaders' debate is available on the BBC website.
I wonder if any of the televised debates had much impact on voters. Did you watch last night's debate? Did it change your views in any way about how you would vote?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
UK General Election 2010 - the second televised leaders' debate
Tonight was the second televised leaders' debate between the leaders of the three main parties:
I thought all three party leaders seemed more aggresive and determined. The debate was definitely much more animated and intense than last week's debate.
I was surprised when they talked a bit about MPs expenses since they discussed that in the first debate and they really just repeated what they said last week.
At one point in tonight's debate, all three leaders were quibbling about Britain's relationship with America. Then when Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg started to banter back and forth, Gordon Brown stood there with a big grin on his face and then Brown told the audience: "They remind me of my two young boys squabbling at bathtime." Then he said, "'I am afraid David is anti-European, Nick is anti- American."
The immigration issue was discussed at length. Gordon Brown said (bragged more like) that there will be identity cards for foreigners coming into the UK.
I want to know how that is going to help. How do identity cards for foreign nationals make a difference to immigration? Gordon Brown is obsessed with ID cards!
Gordon Brown and David Cameron both disagreed with Nick Clegg about his plans for immigration amnesty. Brown said that the points system was working and Cameron said that we need to have a cap on people coming from outside the European Union for economic reasons.
Climate change and Environmental issues were also discussed. I was pleased to hear David Cameron say, "I've come out very strongly against the third runway at Heathrow. We should be going for high speed rail instead."
What did you think of the second debate?
- The incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown
- The leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party leader David Cameron
- The leader of the Liberal Democrats party, Nick Clegg
I thought all three party leaders seemed more aggresive and determined. The debate was definitely much more animated and intense than last week's debate.
I was surprised when they talked a bit about MPs expenses since they discussed that in the first debate and they really just repeated what they said last week.
At one point in tonight's debate, all three leaders were quibbling about Britain's relationship with America. Then when Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg started to banter back and forth, Gordon Brown stood there with a big grin on his face and then Brown told the audience: "They remind me of my two young boys squabbling at bathtime." Then he said, "'I am afraid David is anti-European, Nick is anti- American."
The immigration issue was discussed at length. Gordon Brown said (bragged more like) that there will be identity cards for foreigners coming into the UK.
I want to know how that is going to help. How do identity cards for foreign nationals make a difference to immigration? Gordon Brown is obsessed with ID cards!
Gordon Brown and David Cameron both disagreed with Nick Clegg about his plans for immigration amnesty. Brown said that the points system was working and Cameron said that we need to have a cap on people coming from outside the European Union for economic reasons.
Climate change and Environmental issues were also discussed. I was pleased to hear David Cameron say, "I've come out very strongly against the third runway at Heathrow. We should be going for high speed rail instead."
What did you think of the second debate?
Friday, April 16, 2010
UK General Election 2010 - the first televised leaders' debate
Last night was the (first of three) live televised debates between the leaders of the three main parties:
The incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown
The leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party leader David Cameron
The leader of the Liberal Democrats party, Nick Clegg
This was an historic event since it was the first live television debate in a UK election.
It was a long debate - run without a break for 90 minutes - and I thought it was moderated very well by Alastair Stewart. I didn't like the the lack of audience noise though (no audience applause was allowed). It was like the audience wasn't there. The topics discussed were Immigration; the National Health Service (NHS); Education; Law and Order; and Political reform.
Nick Clegg appeared to be the most relaxed and speaking much more candidly than Mr Brown and Mr Cameron. And I was very pleased when Nick Clegg mentioned scrapping both identity cards and the National Programme for IT. He talked about the expense of the ID cards and how that money could be spent on more police officers on the streets. So true.
When the debate turned to political reform, Gordon Brown turned to David Cameron and said, "Please no more hereditary MPs." I was pleased to hear David Cameron's retort, "You've had 13 years to reform the House of Lords." Quite.
It was noticeable (and quite funny) how often Gordon Brown said, ""I agree with Nick". Hilarious! It wasn't exactly a subtle way to show that he's courting Nick and the Liberal Democrats for their votes!
Nick Clegg has been hailed as the winner of the first televised leaders' debate.
I enjoyed watching the debate, however, I don't think I learned any new information about the respective policies of each party leader so even though it was interesting to watch and probably inevitable that this sort of tv debate would happen here, I'm not sure of its usefulness. To me, it's the policies that matter, not how the person "looks" on tv.
Did you watch the debate? Do you think the tv debate is a good idea? Who do you think "won" the debate? Did the debate change the way you will vote?
If you missed it, you can watch the debate again:
The First Election Debate on ITV1: 15th April 2010
The incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown
The leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party leader David Cameron
The leader of the Liberal Democrats party, Nick Clegg
This was an historic event since it was the first live television debate in a UK election.
It was a long debate - run without a break for 90 minutes - and I thought it was moderated very well by Alastair Stewart. I didn't like the the lack of audience noise though (no audience applause was allowed). It was like the audience wasn't there. The topics discussed were Immigration; the National Health Service (NHS); Education; Law and Order; and Political reform.
Nick Clegg appeared to be the most relaxed and speaking much more candidly than Mr Brown and Mr Cameron. And I was very pleased when Nick Clegg mentioned scrapping both identity cards and the National Programme for IT. He talked about the expense of the ID cards and how that money could be spent on more police officers on the streets. So true.
When the debate turned to political reform, Gordon Brown turned to David Cameron and said, "Please no more hereditary MPs." I was pleased to hear David Cameron's retort, "You've had 13 years to reform the House of Lords." Quite.
It was noticeable (and quite funny) how often Gordon Brown said, ""I agree with Nick". Hilarious! It wasn't exactly a subtle way to show that he's courting Nick and the Liberal Democrats for their votes!
Nick Clegg has been hailed as the winner of the first televised leaders' debate.
I enjoyed watching the debate, however, I don't think I learned any new information about the respective policies of each party leader so even though it was interesting to watch and probably inevitable that this sort of tv debate would happen here, I'm not sure of its usefulness. To me, it's the policies that matter, not how the person "looks" on tv.
Did you watch the debate? Do you think the tv debate is a good idea? Who do you think "won" the debate? Did the debate change the way you will vote?
If you missed it, you can watch the debate again:
The First Election Debate on ITV1: 15th April 2010
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