• Home
  • News & Current Affairs
  • Brexit
  • Politics
  • Podcasts
    • The Eamonn Mallie Podcast
    • Eamonn Mallie – Stream Of Consciousness
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Wednesday, June 7
  • About Eamonn Mallie
  • Published Books
  • Our Authors
  • Get In Touch
Facebook Twitter
Eamonn Mallie
  • Home
  • News & Current Affairs
  • Brexit
  • Politics
  • Podcasts
    • The Eamonn Mallie Podcast
    • Eamonn Mallie – Stream Of Consciousness
Eamonn Mallie
You are at:Home»News & Current Affairs»Everything you need to know about how a government is formed if there is a hung parliament
News & Current Affairs

Everything you need to know about how a government is formed if there is a hung parliament

Eamonn MallieBy Eamonn MallieMay 5, 2015Updated:September 16, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Social share:

Coalition politics, Eamonn MallieAfter Polling Day on May 7 2015 there will be 650 MPs elected to Westminster. What numbers do Cameron and Miliband need to form a government? We’ve distilled the Guardian explainer piece by Joe Henley So here we have it for you:

To form a government an Executive or government has to have support of 326 MPs.

If no party achieves and an overall majority the leader with the larger number of MPs does not automatically form a government.

The party leader capable of garnering the required number of MPs regardless from where they come could form the new government. This is the key point.

As the polls stand now, Ed Miliband is more likely to form a government with the assistance of SNP, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and Greens.

Miliband based on a neck and neck finish would have 333 MPs as opposed to Conservatives, DUP and Ukip, Lib Dems with 311 MPs.

Here Joe Henley gives some more details:

As soon as the final result is known [on May 8 2015] or, in all probability, rather earlier – the negotiations will begin. The goal, quite simply, is to assemble an alliance in parliament that, in crucial votes when the chips are really down, can count on the backing of at least 326 MPs.That alliance takes one of two main forms.”

Either:

It can be a formal coalition, such as the one between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats that has governed the country for the past five years.”

Or:

In its other form, decisions are rather less pre-cooked, the party whips busier, and the business of government rather more faltering. This is a minority government in which a larger party that does not have an outright majority strikes informal “confidence and supply” agreements with one or more of the minor parties.”

He continued:

This may, famously, be the most uncertain British general election in generations. But according to almost every pollster, it is highly unlikely that either Labour or the Conservatives, currently pretty much neck-and-neck in the Guardian polls average, will win an outright majority of 326 seats.

That will oblige them to seek an alliance if they want to govern. Right now, Labour looks to have more options when it comes to reaching its crucial 326 seats, and as such, to be better placed, if only marginally: if the election had taken place last weekend, a possible “anti-Tory” alliance of Labour, the Scottish National party, Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the SDLP would have totalled 333 MPs. A “pro-Tory” bloc of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Ukip and the DUP, on the other hand, would have managed only 311.

But an awful lot can still change between now and 7 May. And while most experts see a minority government as a more likely outcome than another full-blown coalition, nailing those more informal agreements down is inevitably going to be a complex, difficult and deeply fraught process.”

 


Social share:
Alliance Coalition David Cameron Ed Miliband Guardian Joe Henley politics
Previous ArticleRoy Fisher and the Gerry Kelly flyer
Next Article On being an eyewitness to a stuttering, stumbling NI General Election by Eamonn Mallie
Avatar photo
Eamonn Mallie
  • Website
  • Twitter

I am a regular contributor to discussion programmes on TV and radio both at home and abroad. An experienced political editor and author specialising in Politics, Security and 20th Century Art.

Related Posts

How the killings of two men 25 years ago helped to break the deadlock in the Peace Talks resulting in the Good Friday Agreement – by Mark Durkan

March 4, 2023

Life in politics by Monica McWilliams seen through the lens of former Northern Ireland Assembly speaker Dr. John Alderdice

February 15, 2022

‘The Troubles were just there, part of our normal…’  – By Brian Rowan 

January 26, 2022

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Our Picks

How the killings of two men 25 years ago helped to break the deadlock in the Peace Talks resulting in the Good Friday Agreement – by Mark Durkan

March 4, 2023

Life in politics by Monica McWilliams seen through the lens of former Northern Ireland Assembly speaker Dr. John Alderdice

February 15, 2022

‘The Troubles were just there, part of our normal…’  – By Brian Rowan 

January 26, 2022

The Health System Needs Surgery – by Mark Sidebottom

November 19, 2021
Follow me on Twitter
Tweets by @EamonnMallie
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
About
About

Northern Ireland's home for Independent thought. News & Current Affairs from Northern Ireland. Opinions, The Arts, Sports & more.

We're social, connect with us:

Facebook Twitter
Popular Posts

How the killings of two men 25 years ago helped to break the deadlock in the Peace Talks resulting in the Good Friday Agreement – by Mark Durkan

March 4, 2023

Life in politics by Monica McWilliams seen through the lens of former Northern Ireland Assembly speaker Dr. John Alderdice

February 15, 2022

‘The Troubles were just there, part of our normal…’  – By Brian Rowan 

January 26, 2022
Recent Comments
  • truck headlights on The Unacceptable Faces of the DUP and Sinn Féin – By Eamonn Mallie
  • Annemarie McQuade on West Belfast man SIMPLY wants UVF to publicly acknowledge father’s killing – By Paul Crawford
  • güzellik merkezleri on The Unacceptable Faces of the DUP and Sinn Féin – By Eamonn Mallie
Copyright ©Eamonn Mallie. Designed by Web Design Belfast.
  • Copyright

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.