Right Side Up
Bruce Strachan
Editor's note: This column was written before a coalition government was formed and took office in the U.K.
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Pity the poor United Kingdom. The whole realm is in an electoral tizzy. The country has just held its most important election in decades. An election which focused on a teetering economy and included the first televised leader's debate in British political history, but after all that, an election that's left the country with a hung (their term) parliament.
Over here in the colonies, we call it a minority government, no big deal. But on that tight little island, the British stiff upper lip is quivering in the frightening face of electoral instability. The English patient is not resting comfortably.
Imagine, the Palace of Westminster, the Mother of Parliament, hung up with no clear victor. The country has no one to lead, and more importantly to Britons, if anything goes wrong, no one to blame.
Just to give you a thumbnail sketch of the recent U.K electoral results, there are 650 seats in the British Parliament. David Cameron and his Conservatives have 306 seats; the Labour Party - the majority government going into the election - was reduced to 258 seats. Nick Clegg who leads the Liberal Democrats (kind of an NDP lite) won 57 seats. There are another 28 odd seats scattered around in the regional parties representing Scottish, Welsh and Irish interests.
Since it takes 326 seats to form a majority, and the Conservatives have only 306, the U.K. is sitting on the horns of a numbers-game dilemma. Brits like clean, orderly wins. One can't have two, sort of second-place teams after the final whistle. It's just not done. Seeking desperately to resolve the problem, both the Conservatives and the Labour Party are negotiating with the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition. At issue for the Liberal Democrats is electoral reform.
What the Brits really need to do is look at Canada. We can show the U.K. how to manage a minority parliament, and perhaps offer an insight into the political reality of governing during these uncertain economic times.
First, forget the coalition remedy. Canada has been governed quite successfully by a single-party minority government since January 2006. On our minority government, even the prestigious London-based Economist magazine says "Britons might note that Mr. Harper has managed to govern for four years without a parliamentary majority, and that this has not prevented Canada from sailing through the recession."
A coalition is like a mule, the product of an awkward coupling, with no pride of ancestry and even less hope of progeny. For those readers who don't understand what mules are all about, see Wikipedia for a fuller, more biologically descriptive explanation.
Second, the three main British political parties must learn what our Canadian parties realized after our second minority election in 2008. The public does not want another election, or any sort of political wrangling; rather we want our MPs to make Parliament work. So, set aside the policy grandstanding and get down to governing the country. As Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff found out last fall, the party threatening an unnecessary non-confidence motion - or any other issue which could result in a run to the polls - will be punished.
Third, although David Cameron - like Stephen Harper - does not enjoy a numerical majority, he still has more electoral support than other political leaders. Interestingly, both Harper and Cameron have around 47 per cent of their respective House of Commons seats.
That majority counts, and when the Queen - who is the final arbiter - makes her decision as to who should lead, one would hope Cameron's majority position will prevail.
Finally, and if I were advising the British Labour Party or the Liberal Democrats, I'd say, back off on the political power struggle and electoral reform; there is only one task at hand and it is the restoration of economic stability.
The U.K economy is circling the drain. During the election campaign, one of the Conservative's most effective campaign posters showed a newborn baby with the caption, "Dad's eyes, Mum's nose, Gordon Brown's debt."
Beneath the caption, the line, "Labour's debt crisis: Every child in Britain is born owing 17,000 pounds. They deserve better."
It is generally accepted that the next British government will have to cut public sector salaries, freeze benefits, slash jobs, abolish a whole host of welfare benefits and cut infrastructure funding. Currently more than 25 per cent of the U.K. budget is borrowed, an unsustainable amount.
Like it or not, while the election may have produced a minority government, it has only accentuated the absolute necessity for the British Parliament to gather together in whatever form it can to save the country.
Look to Canada, Westminster. We make our minority government work because we want to.
You must do the same; not because you want to, but because you have to.
