Minority government: it can work if politicians thinks big
Does 1910 hold lessons for today’s politicians – if they’re prepared to form broad alliances?
Minority government is alien to the British system in the minds of most politicians. But if current polls are reflected in the 7 May result, and if no coalition partnership is forthcoming, we could be heading for the first government without a majority in the Commons since February 1974.
The leader of that minority government was Harold Wilson whose Labour Party won more seats – despite getting fewer votes - than Edward Heath and the Tories.
Wilson had just one thing on his mind – to bring in a raft of popular polices and go for a second election where he could get a majority. He duly raised pensions, tightened price controls, provided food subsidies and indeed won a majority – albeit a narrow one - in October. (For the detail, go to Chapter 27 of Ben Pimlott’s 800-page biography, ‘Harold Wilson’.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But as Martin Kettle has argued in The Guardian, the fixed term parliament act would make calling a quick election difficult. So why not a minority government that thinks positively?
Nick Pearce argues in today’s Financial Times that the best guide to how a successful minority government might play out is 1910. Liberal leader Herbert Asquith may have lost his governing majority that year, but he went on to lead “perhaps the most successful minority government in modern British history”.
Pearce, who heads the Institute for Public Policy Research, says minority governments fail “when they focus solely on parliamentary survival, staggering from vote to vote and surrendering the initiative to the opposing party”.
What Asquith proved in 1910 was that politicians can accomplish much more than many currently realise — “but only if they are prepared to venture further from their usual ideological habitats” and form “broad alliances”.
Pearce writes: “Governing with support from a progressive alliance of Irish nationalists and the infant Labour Party” Asquith’s Liberals “passed historic constitutional reforms that established the primacy of elected MPs over the House of Lords and broke the landed gentry’s hold on power. They created a national insurance system that laid the foundations for the modern welfare state.”
Food for thought for Ed Miliband, who – because of the hostility of the SNP towards the Conservatives, and based on current projections – is the leader most likely to be able to form the type of broad alliance Pearce advocates.
Labour is in the lead in two of the latest polls and level-pegging in the third.
Populus: Labour 34%, Tories 31%, Ukip 14%, Lib Dems 8%, Others 13%.
YouGov: Labour 35%, Tories 33%, Ukip 14%, Lib Dems 7%, Greens 6%.
Ashcroft National Poll: Labour 31%, Tories 31%, Ukip 15%, Lib Dems 8%, Greens 9%. Ashcroft also gives a regional breakdown showing that in England the Tories lead Labour by 34% to 30%. That looks good until you check with the 2010 result when the Conservatives enjoyed a lead in England of 11%. Such a swing against the Tories could cost them more than 40 seats on 7 May.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Magazine solutions - May 10, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 10, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - May 10, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 10, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
'Box Trump in for real if he pulls another stunt. Put him behind bars.'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published