As we go to press tonight, the results of what can only be considered a historic election in Britain resulted in a hung parliament. That means that no Party earned enough to have control of Parliament.
According to exit polls conducted by the BBC, The Conservative Party, also known as the Tory Party, is expected to win 305 seats, 21 seats less than what is needed to form the government. In the United Kingdom, the House of Representatives, which is officially called the House of Commons, is made up of 650 elected representatives. Much like Belize, for a party to form the Government and the Leader to become Prime Minister, that Party must win more than 50 percent of the total number of seats. In this case 326 seats would be the number of seats that would be needed for any Party to form the Government. When none of the Parties gain 326 seats, the British consider this to be a "Hung Parliament."
According to the exit polls, the election results will show the Conservative Party with the largest number of seats, 305. The incumbent Labour Party should have 255 seats and the Liberal Democrats 61, according to the poll. Others small parties or candidates could win 29 seats.
So what happens in the UK in the case of a hung Parliament? In the event of a Hung Parliament, the Prime Minister remains in office until a deal can be worked out between one of the major Parties and one of the other Parties. In this case, the Liberal Democratic Party could join up with the Conservative Party or with the Labour Party to form the government. Of course the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Nick Clegg said during the Campaign that he believed that the party with the “biggest mandate” should get the right to govern the UK.
The next 24 hours will be very important to David Cameron, leader of the Tory Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, leader of the Labour Party as they both try to court Mr. Clegg to try and form a coalition government. Given what Clegg said about the mandate, it is unlikely that he would agree to form a coalition government with the Labour Party.
This is not the first time that elections in England resulted in a Hung Parliament; in 1974 the situation was reversed and Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath remained in power for four days trying to cut a deal, even though his party had earned less Parliamentary seats than the Labour Party.
Something different about this year's UK election is that Belize was often mentioned in the election campaign. Lord Michael Ashcroft, the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and a well know figure in Belize were discussed during the campaign, so much so that Lord Ashcroft's connection in Belize was even brought up during the debates. Lord Ashcroft, who is said to have been a major contributor to the Conservative Party, was Belize's Ambassador to the UN and is also one of the major shareholders of the Belize Bank Ltd. The controversy surrounding Lord Ashcroft and his relationship to Belize caused a great deal of stir.
We must also remember that Mr. Ashcroft was also mentioned by Belize's Prime Minster Dean Barrow in the House of Representatives, when Barrow said that he received contributions from Lord Ashcroft for the UDP Campaign in 2008. Today the relationship between the PM Barrow and the Lord Ashcroft is not a good one and many believe that this could have an effect on Belize/UK relations should the Tories form the next government.
In the UK when voters leave the polling stations, independent surveyors ask questions like whom they voted for and why they voted for a particular candidate or party. Based on the responses they are able to predict who will win the elections. While these results are unofficial, it is seldom that they are proven wrong.
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Source: The Belize Times
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