England's Future by Dr Nigel Moor

Author:Dr Nigel Moor [Moor, Dr Nigel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Guild
Published: 2022-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

The Coalition Government And Localism

‘The Conservative Party needs to change its language, change its approach, start with a blank piece of paper and try to work out why our base of support is not broader.’

David Cameron, 2001.

‘So, for me, showing that coalition could work and that difficult decisions could be taken collaboratively was an early priority – and setting a cooperative, positive tone in the Rose Garden seemed like the right thing to do.’

Nick Clegg, 2016.

The Opportunity for Coalition

The general election of 6 May 2010 was one of the most exciting in living memory. Driving home late at night I turned on the car radio and the exit polls were predicting that no party would have an overall majority in the House of Commons. Although the Conservatives gained over 100 seats and had one of the largest swings of voters ever recorded, the polls proved very accurate. No political party had an overall majority. The Conservatives had become overwhelmingly the political party of England, but had failed to make inroads in Scotland. Conversely Labour had won 29 per cent of the popular vote but excluding inner London, the party lost in 95 per cent of the seats in southern England. The 6 May election was the party’s second worst performance since 1918 and most of its gains that it achieved since the 1990s in the Midlands and Southern England outside the big cities were reversed. Also telling was that despite David Cameron’s efforts to detoxify the brand, the Conservatives had failed to gain 40 per cent of the popular vote; the normal benchmark for a ruling party.

Within Conservative circles the fear remained of a threat from a united progressive left that could keep them out of government permanently. The Cameron team early on realised that a minority government could not introduce the unpopular austerity measures needed to reduce the deficit without the risk of being defeated in the House of Commons and precipitating a fresh election, which would be damaging to the pound and the Stock Market. David Cameron was able to persuade his party of all of this; this provided the opportunity for a coalition, rather than trying to form a weak minority government. That weekend saw a frenzy of activity as David Cameron attempted to forge a coalition with Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems.

On the Saturday the three party leaders were required to attend the Cenotaph for the sixty-fifth anniversary of VE day. Normal protocol would have seen the Prime Minister lay his wreath first, but on this occasion the three approached together, eloquently reflecting the verdict of the nation. Nonetheless Mr Brown remained at Number 10 throughout the weekend, reminding the country that he was still in charge. On Monday morning, when it looked as if the Conservative and Lib Dem agreement was gaining momentum, he unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as Labour Leader, so as to allow the Lib Dems to commence talks with his party. Nick Clegg had made it clear during

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