up-date on general election

What on earth is going on in Britain?

The Lib-Dem surge proved to be a soufflé and the Conservatives, although they won 97 more seats than in 2005 are still 20 MPs short of an outright majority.

Nick Clegg has started negotiations with Cameron, although this is not really what the MPs and grass roots of either party want (read an article from the Telegraph on opposition to a deal by the Tory rank and file).

What will happen if no agreement is found? What are the prospects for electoral reform in each of these scenarios?

The Guardian also offers a simple explanation on the possible outcomes of these talks, in the form of a Q&A: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/10/hung-parliament-coalition-government

In Britain, it is possible to have a minority governement (for instance 306 MPs out of 650) but if the Conservatives form such a government they will need the occasional support of other MPs to get key legislation through, in particular the Queen's Speech and the budget.

For an explanation on all this : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8670411.stm

And for a schematic representation of the possible outcomes of an election : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8660699.stm

Over the weekend, Cameron and Clegg have been discussing the terms for an agreement but we don't know yet whether that will work. If there is no agreement, then either the Conservatives can try and govern without an outright majority and make deals with different MPs over particular legislation or else perhaps Brown and Clegg can make a deal to govern together, although they would still be short of an outright majority.

To follow the live coverage and find out about the latest progress in this matter, check: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/election2010/liveevent/

At any rate, what most commentators agree about is that there will be another general election quite soon.

Have a look at this explanation on the AV, AV+ and STV voting systems that are being discussed to replace the first past the post rule.