any other LD supporters horrified at the idea of the Lib Dems propping up a Tory government?

[geekgirl]

What's with all this talk by Nick Clegg about siding with the Tories if they happen to get the most seats?
Surely that really would result in gridlock, plus do Lib Dem supporters feel happy about helping Cameron become PM?! I know I don't...

Hiya
We've added some question marks to remove any ambiguity.

His point was about the lack of democracy in the current system. He questioned the legitimacy of Labour being able to carry on in Downing Street if they came third in the vote share. Constitutional convention says the party with the largest number of seats provides the PM, and Clegg was questioning that convention.

We need a written constitution.

Was listening to Jeremy Vine today and heard a tory official spokeperson compare Belgium's (disastrous) hung parliamant as a warning to the UK... As a Belgian I was horrified how this bloke was allowed to spin this.... Belgium has MASSIVE issues but it's nothing like the UK... not least the language issue is a fundamental problem... how dare he spins it like that

And like many of you I am shocked at the % not being representative of the number of seats a party gets... can you believe that labour could have at least twice if not 3 times more seat yet LESS % vote than the lib dems... that is NOT democracy!

I like the French system where you vote 2 weeks in a row... the top 2 of the list get to be the last 2 and therefore one of the two gets an outright majority of over 50%!

Lib Dem priorities will surely be:
1)Electorial reform
2)Lib dem PM

in decreasing order. Surely they will not compromise on Electoral reform but may compromise on PM.

Further, they are more likely to get both priorities above if the end up in a coalition with Labour.

pupuce - because if the Lib Dems get 10,000 votes in Orpington South, or wherever, and the Tories get 12,000, you get a Tory MP. So if the Lib Dems get 10,000 votes in loads of seats but the Labour get 12,000 in half of them and Tories get 12,000 in the other half, you'll end up with lots of Labour and Tory MPs and no Lib Dems.

That's why it's called first past the post - you get one MP per constituency.

My vote counts for sod-all because I live in a seat with a massive Tory majority. Last time, there were something like 22,000 votes for the guy who was elected, and around the same number against him (roughly) but those against were split between the two other major parties (and a few stragglers).

Pupuce - The percentage of the Lib Dem vote is not representative of the numbers that support them. Many people vote LibDem because they are having to vote tactically. That can work for other parties as well but, I think, particularly for the LibDems. They gain from anti-Labour and anti-Tory votes

I'm sure there are some very good constituency MPs, but to be honest, ours is a prat (Tory), although is stepping down at this election and the new guy seems a prat too!

My local MP has never been asked to do anything by me, and has certainly never offered anything.

Is a local MP really important to people?

I don't think there's any way the Tories will accept PR. They would rather muddle along in a minority government and perhaps hold another election than concede PR which would basically end the chances of them getting a majority ever again.

We ahve a variant of PR here in Wales for teh Assembly. It got us a LD Am and he has been incredibly helpful when the MP was not (and I voted for him so not a bias LOL- LAbour chap)

In all truth as an outsider (English person living ehre) it seekms to work and I would back for future

I had a dream two weeks ago that NC would be thext PMS; I can see it going that way under a HP tbh. Parliamentarians know you need an acceptable face at the helm, and its quite possibly a price worth paying for then influence: PR less so if you are a Tory of course

Interesting post about how the rules for a hung parliament would workout in practice. It is not AT ALL straightforward for the Libdems.

Wouldn't the Tories benefit more than Labour?

I'd like the Tories and Labour to form a coalition government and then agree with Nick Clegg that a hung parliament can work perfectly.

I'd rather have a Lib Dem majority.

not gonna happen though is it!

why not?

Labour's maximum possible support is 33%, the Tories' is 37% and the Lib Dems' is 40%, according to yesterday's Guardian/ICM poll (here). Just a matter of convincing the undecideds.

There is no reason why the Lib Dems can't do it. I've always voted for them and every year believed they can do it but actually this time, we really need for them to do it. If everyone does it then we could actually make a difference. And no vesela you weren't the only one who was narked to see the lib dem tory pact title in the discussions of the day. Poorly worded and misleading. Needs to be changed!

Oh my lord - they at least put a question mark on it yesterday, and now it's been changed back??? What's that about?

better than it was, though, for sure - it's saying "if there were to be a LD/Tory pact, would you be for it?"

anyway, though. Re. Lib Dems getting a majority - how it works (insofar as anyone knows, given that the swingometers are little equipped to deal with such a surge!) is that once the Lib Dems get past 37-38%, they become the party with most seats, and then very quickly add extra seats - 41-42% gives them a majority.

So we can just do that and all the pundits can go and have a nice holiday after polling day and save their column inches

Thanks for that interesting link, catinthehat2.
If someone had asked me what happens after the election results are in, I'd have said, 'Er, the queen asks someone to form a government, and then, er...'