The Last Post
18 May 2010
John Curtice explains that the hung parliament isn’t a one off — and why first past the post is no longer a guarantee of majority government
May 2010: Dual Britannia
Devolved government
A disunited kingdom
18 May 2010
The choreography of the coalition deal gave the impression that it had been rehearsed. The coalition partners had prepared well for a hung parliament. Negotiating positions on problem issues had … » more
Cameron Scotched
18 May 2010
One of the most striking features of the 6 May general election was the political division of the constituent nations of Great Britain. On election night, Scotland gave a vote of … » more
We’ll burn everything British except the cheques
18 May 2010
Northern Irish politics are no longer such a problem for Westminster — but they are nonetheless plagued by inertia and intellectual fatigue, warns Paul Bew
Conservatives
Goodbye Mrs T
18 May 2010
The formation of a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats has been made possible by the inconclusive result of the general election, but it has the capacity to … » more
C’mon, no Tory was ever likely to sweep the country
18 May 2010
It’s easy to forget amidst the euphoria surrounding the formation of Britain’s first peacetime coalition in eighty years that its leader, David Cameron, initially came in for a fair bit of criticism for failing to win an outright victory on polling day itself. That criticism — surprise, surprise — is now rather muted. But it was always misguided. The chances of Cameron cruising to an overall majority in 2010 were some way between small and tiny.
Constitutional renewal
Short-changing the voter
18 May 2010
The incoming Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition looks set to introduce potentially far-reaching political reform. The coalition agreement between the two parties includes commitments to: introduce fixed-term parliaments, make provisions to enable … » more
The reform that must be first on the table
18 May 2010
This is in many ways a new parliament: we have a new state opening, a new and very different kind of government, and an unprecedented number of new MPs. But importantly, new parliamentary rules also kick in immediately, thanks to the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons (the ‘Wright committee’) in the last parliament.
Cameron’s first challenge on Commons reform
18 May 2010
It has been a fraught time post-election for politicians and those around them, during which parliamentary and wider constitutional matters have been top of the agenda. Not only was there … » more
Defence
So what’s the right prescription Dr Fox for our men in Sangin?
18 May 2010
The last time a coalition government took office was in the critical days of 1940, when Britain was fighting for its very survival. The enemy at the gates may now … » more
Business and finance
A £6bn own-goal
18 May 2010
The election campaign is over -— ending with more of a whimper than a bang but, electoral reform aside, the economy unsurprisingly has taken centre stage. However while the Conservatives … » more
Everybody’s equal in the database state
18 May 2010
It was Tony Blair who announced the Data Sharing Review on 25th October 2007 — in his speech on liberty — setting out the government’s belief that ‘a great prize … » more
More editions
Browse our print archive
May 2010 edition
John Curtice explains why hung parliaments are here to stay. Plus why Scotland is going to be a problem for Cameron, and features on constitutional renewal and defence.