Cameron offers Clegg power deal
Friday 7th May 2010, 3:10PM BST.
David Cameron has offered the Liberal Democrats the chance to share power after the General Election delivered a hung parliament.
He insisted he will lead the next government after taking the most seats in the General Election despite falling just short of an overall majority.
But in an historic proposal at 2.45pm, he offered Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats the chance to share power in return for their support in the Commons.
By 4pm, the Conservatives had won 305 seats, Labour 258 and the Lib Dems 57, with 326 seats needed for a clear majority. Two seats were still to be declared.
In Shropshire there were no surprises, with David Wright retaining Telford for Labour, but with a greatly reduced majority, and Mark Pritchard, Philip Dunne, Daniel Kawczynski and Owen Paterson maintaining the Conservatives’ hold on the county.
But there was a serious shock in Montgomeryshire, where Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik was ousted by Conservative Glyn Davies.
Earlier, Gordon Brown offered the Lib Dems a similar coalition deal, only to be rebuffed by Mr Clegg, who stood by his pledge to speak to the party with the biggest share of the vote first.
However, in a dramatic turn of events this morning Mr Clegg issued a thinly-veiled invitation to the Conservatives to share power within minutes of Mr Brown’s offer. Mr Brown later made a second statement in Downing Street offering to ‘talk to anyone’ about a coalition deal.
But just half an hour later at 2.45pm, MrCameron told a London press conference:”I’m making a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats in helping them to implement key planks of their manifesto.
“We need to create a strong, stable government that has the support of the public. The best thing for Britain now is a new government that works for the national interest and I hope with all my heart that is something we can achieve.”
Mr Clegg said as the Tories had won the most seats, it was for David Cameron to have the “first right” to prove the party was capable of governing in the national interest. He admitted the results were “disappointing” for his party.
Mr Clegg added that despite strong polls for the Lib Dems, voters it seemed had “decided to stick with what they know” at the ballot box.
Mr Cameron, meanwhile, said Labour had “lost its mandate to govern”.
But he is set to fall around 20 seats short of the 326 he needs for an overall majority in the Commons.
Mr Brown this afternoon said voters had sent politicians a “strong message”, and that he wanted to talk to the Lib Dems.
Election 2010
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The British are so racist. Don’t want a Scot in charge. Don’t want an American-Australian in charge. Now look what happens!
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I am saddened and disappointed that in Shrewsbury we still have a tory mp.
However the tories need to be worried and start looking over their shoulders because they may think they need to run the country but that is far from fact, and Mr Cameron needs to see this as a wake up call. The British people don’t trust him or his party.
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The public are saying” We don’t like/trust any of you !”
David Cameron has fallen out with a lot of the people he now needs to court. Strikes of a lack of forward thinking /planning on his part and this lack of business sense does not bode well.
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Thank goodness Opik is out on his ear. His ‘z-list celebrity’ antics have done incalculable harm to our party. He has always put his ego before doing the job he was elected to do. Good riddance.
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This was one instance where the electorate showed they weren’t fools. In theory Opik should have been returned to his seat (as happened in Brecknock and Radnor for instance) and indeed Opik actually didn’t believe he’d be unseated.
Never mind all his celebrity antics, his total failure to acknowledge public disquiet about expenses – his own included – at least meant that he was vulnerable, and I am amazed that he didn’t even recognise that much.
Regardless of party politics, I suspect Glyn Davies will do a good job for his constituents. Ultimately, Lembit was the architect of his own downfall.
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Whatever the outcome of this hung parliament, we can all be pleased that the racist BNP and the little Englanders of UKIP got precisely nowhere…
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#5 peter- i think your missing the point here Peter, we do not need to be in the EU we would be much better off without it, if we were not part of it we would not have this ridiculous debt hanging over our country.
i take it you voted for the tories????
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Darren,
I voted Labour. If we were to leave the EU we would do enormous damage to our economy. The idea that we could continue to trade with Europe on the same basis as now is optimistic to say the least, and we would risk major employers such as Nissan, Toyota and Honda leaving to go elsewhere in Europe, since they only located here due to our European membership.
Your assertion that Europe is to blame for our debt is a strange one – did you miss the fact that the banking bail-out which forms so much of our current debt was a US-created problem?
To leave Europe would leave us very much more at the mercy of the US, and the global economy, and would undermine many of the laws protecting our workers from the sort of low wage hire-and-fire economy favoured in much of the US.
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Here here!
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Not much good news for me, at least the hateful and grudging BNP are back in the wilderness after marching out behind Field Marshall Griffin into oblivion, what a stupid waste of a vote!! Proof that some idiots know absolutely nothing.
With Greece in meltdown and threatening to take several others with it and the pound under siege, let alone our horrific deficit to pay back, things are certainly going to remain interesting.
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I guess if this election has told the politicians anything, it’s that they (the electorate) aren’t that stupid after all. We don’t really trust ANY of them – perhaps at least we’d have had more respect for a party that actually spelled out what ‘austerity’ measures were required. But no, they *all* bottled it.
And this afternoon we have Mr Cameron saying he’s going to have a go at Government (no surprise there) and that (all of a sudden), he ‘agrees’ with the Lib Dems on quite a lot of things. Well just fancy that!
Then of course Gordon Brown (a dead man walking if ever there was one…) pops up not long before to say that Labour too has lots in commons with the Lib Dems! Amazing eh?
Political expediency at its best and the need to gain (or retain) power no matter what the cost. For all of them, it’s not about the mess we’re in – and getting it sorted; it’s about the ‘power’.
Frightening. It certainly IS going to be interesting.
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Even if GB goes he and the labour party have castrated the tory party . Pact with the libs ?? never work.
Labour will be back and if the cleg had any sence he would be talking to the labour party listen to the leb voters cleg not your etonian friend .
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I for one am very disappointed that Pritchard got re-elected for the Wrekin. I want someone who is interested in our market towns and works to regenerate the local community rather than fighting for the return of barbaric fox-hunting!
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I agree. The public have been fooled by his PR – which is essentially negative and he will save everything with his petitions. Well he will have to do something now. It will be good to see what his excuse is when things don’t happen. As for Cameron, I wonder if there will be riots when he takes away from the poor to fund his inheritance tax promise.
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Taxi for Broon!
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frightening indeed but such is or has become
of the sleazi nature of british politics
that we havent got a choice it has become dog-eat-dog-and damm the rest even in thefirst day
today-7-may we have heard expressed thoughts
of “the other”party no word of condolance—just utter contempt how the hell are we to run a country–with a knife behind the back?
edwin turner
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But Edwin 37% of the voters want a tory party in charge. GB adheres to the constitution he is acting in the interest of the British public and yes the labour voters.If people want change then clegg should join labour and get electrol reform through labour.If you look at the tory candidates although i am more than happy with Daniel k he is an excellent mp i would not be happy with a tory guv hence i think many peoples problem. Have you looked at the tory mps? that were fielded? it is starting to look like we are living in an era of georgian politics how can these very privillaged few speak for the general public??. However this mess turns out and who ver takes over will never win the next election in 5 years due to the massive cuts,job losses etc sp perhaps thi is the time for tory guv 4-5 yeras of pain inorder to remove for another 15.
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hang on, i voted lib dem to keep the tories out, if clegg does a deal with the right wingers there will be riots in the streets, we must keep the thatcherites out of power at all costs, NO to a LIB CON, yes to another election (under a proportional equal voting system)
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I think that this election made a fool of the media.
The cleggmania that they claimed to have aroused did not ultimately change the views of the public as a whole. Their policies may have merit and definately more merit than the Conservative Party but are not well enough thought out to elicit confidence.
The media claimed Brown was the worst liked PM ever and the people said not, unusual after a government has been in power for 13 years.
There has been the scandal of allowances (I think our county council giving our councillors a 100% and 150% rises since unitary is a scandal) but in general the last decade of goverment has been cleaned up compared to when the Tories were in power and though Labour have also suffered themselves when sources of money donated for instance are closely examined at least since Labour they ARE closely examined now!
The other intersting fact is that despite the Conservatives having far more money than any other party to promote them, it didn’t buy them victory.
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Danny K? Tireless hard-working man of the people but never as funny as Bob Hope….
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We in Zimbabwe will favour a Tory government. At least they will be more logical in their handling of the Zimbabwe issue, particularly the land dispute which was sparked by Blair’s arrogance.
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I watched a couple of the 3 leader debates on TV and noticed that every time one of them opened their mouths the other two vehemently disagreed with him on all aspects. Now, as if by magic, they can all find “common ground” to work together on to form a stable government. The age of miracles is not past in politics. Obviously Brown has to go, the man is a liability, I think the lack of support for Labour was down to lack of confidence in Brown. God help the UK in the next 5 years if the other two get together, I wouldn’t trust either of them to run a raffle. Sad days ahead I fear I wish you the best of luck.
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Yes, as usual, the Labour apologists rush into print without giving a thought for the facts.
Darren, just in case you didn’t see the results, the Tories got 36% of the poll, Labour got 29% (one of the lowest on record for them) and the Lib Dems got a risible % after we were all told that they were going to come in second. The Tories took over 90 seats from Labour, one of the highest amounts on record and they had over 2 Million more people vote for them than Labour. Considering the mountain that the Tories had to climb, they did extremely well and the indications are that they are now more trusted than Labour, so please, get real and face facts.
Then neva land is on the usual track of distorting facts, twisting information which are far from facts and generally trying to give the discredited Labourites a glossy, honourable and trustworthy image when nothing further from the truth. A tendency to forget the £15 million taken from “the peerages for sale” episode, the £1 million taken from a tobacco magnate to go easy on tobacco advertising, the Hinduja affair, the passports for sale episode, the recent case of 3 ex Ministers selling their souls and integrity for lobbying jobs, one was like a taxi driver if you remember. Then we have the three Labour press advisors conjuring up a plan to send filthy emails to the media telling lies about Tory big wigs. Brown sacked them if you recall. Then we have the 3 Labour MPs shortly to face court on criminal charges over expense claims. Where do you want me stop.
neva land, you are as bad as the cretins that you support, you take the rest of us for fools, can I suggest that before you put “pen to paper” on these streams, you think beforehand of what to say and only deal in facts and also all the name calling can now stop for a while as the election is over. According to many political commentators, Brown is the most unpopular PM this country has ever had. It speaks volumes when some people here shout his praises.
For the second time I agree Peter, thank goodness the mad fringe parties were well and truly kicked into touch, the BNP and UKIP were given a real drubbing and the Green’s were not much better (albeit they are just as bad). Sadly they managed one seat in Brighton Pavillion which does not surprise me, if they were going to win one, Brighton was the obvious place.
Cameron must be bonkers to push for power, he should let Brown have it with the Lib Dems and the other rag tags and bob tails, it is a poison chalice. Brown caused it, let him mend it. The Tories shouldn’t touch No 10 with a bargepole.
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this cannot be allowed, i will personally never vote lib dem again if he sides with these homephobic, climate change denying xenophobes on the tory benches
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that slimy man is all spin over substance he’s like bliar mark 2, we must not let him govern this country he will bring us back to the dark ages
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@1 we are not racist, we are just english and that is like 90% of the population of this country, so why would we want a scot governing us, he is incompetent as well as scottish, we are not bigotted for thinking this, you wouldnt expect the french to elect a german to govern them would you!?
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My point being, and made jokingly, that you wouldn’t (and didn’t) want Rupert Murdoch as your PM either. But if the cap fits….
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dan k is a good MP for us, because he has championed the health and safety problems with the councils plans to burn rubbish in harlescott which wil cause asthma and cancer
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In the recent election Lib Dems came third and they are negotiating with the tories, yet they want the tories to surrender their beliefs on PR
Then it is alledged that they want Labour to change their leader if they want to work with the Lib Dems. Does this mean that the Lib Dems expect the Labour Party to throw away their Rule book to appoint a leader of their choice, or wait for 3 to 4 weeks before a government can be installed while Labour go through their Democratic Process before they appoint a Leader acceptable to the Lib Dems. Even then it would not be known if Labour had appointed the correct person for the Lib Dems. My vote would be for Harriet Harman. Certainly capable of seeing Clegg off.
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i voted lib dem tactically to stop the tories getting in!! I would have voted green if we had PR but felt it would have been a waste voted in south shropshire and the libs are quite green anyway, i would be appauled to see any tory government and if clegg sells out here he will never get a vote again
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@ andrew finch, you say 37% want tory, but this is a tiny minority, 63% was a centre left party, either green or red or yellow of some description – how can it be fair for a minoroty to rule
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I agree it is not fair,and i also agree that not many lib voters would jump in to bed with the torys cleggs political life is over if he does.
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i agree, the vast majority are anti tory, any one will do so long as their not blue
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Well its all sorted now though because Mr Brown will step down by September basically today confirming a lib dem and labour coalition. role on october 14th for the next general election because i think we will see the lib dems in a far better position than now.
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The Tories arrogance is going to cost them dear! add Labour to the Liberal Democrat vote in % terms and they have the backing of the UK
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Stuart (#18) you commented on the results and said the Lib Dem share of the vote was ‘risible’.
I voted Green, but I think it is only fair to ‘give a thought to the facts’ (as you put it) and point out that nearly a quarter (23%) of the British electorate voted Lib Dem last Thursday.
Is that a ‘risible’ share of the vote?
Conservatives got 36% of the vote and 306 seats.
Labour got 29% of the vote and 258 seats.
And the Lib Dems got 23% of the vote and 57 seats.
Surely, the only thing that is risible about this is that anyone can think it fair that nearly a quarter of British voters are represented by such a small number of MPs.
Despite getting 1% more of the popular vote than last time, the Lib Dems have 5 fewer seats.
The number of seats they won was ‘risible’, not their share of the vote.
You later lamented the fact that the Greens’ leader Caroline Lucas won Brighton Pavilion.
But you avoided seeing what was clear to most people.
Caroline Lucas’ win was a historic moment.
She is the first Green anywhere in the world to win a seat in a first-past-the-post system.
This is a very positive, hopeful sign for the future, which made up for some of the other bad news of the night for the Greens, who were squeezed nationally.
The Greens are not a ‘mad fringe party’ as you describe us, but are putting forward ideas, which the mainstream parties are seeking to emulate, like the Green New Deal, which I tried to get you to discuss here in January of last year: http://www.shropshirestar.com/latest/2009/01/23/britain-enters-recession/ (#26).
David Cameron now has a ‘Green Deal’ as part of his manifesto, albeit not as radical as that of the Greens.
Why do you call us a ‘mad fringe party’, Stuart, if your leader is borrowing some of our ideas?
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I’d class any party, whose leader is on record (and, indeed, YouTube) as claiming that flying to Spain for a holiday is no different to stabbing someone on the street, as “mad fringe”.
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Have you never said something you regretted later, winja?
I have.
300,000 people are dying every year as a result of climate change.
Is it ‘mad’ ‘fringe’ behaviour to make a connection between our emissions and people’s lives?
Surely it is just recognising that our behaviour has an impact on others and accepting responsibility.
Caroline Lucas has won ‘Ethical Politician of the Year’ two years running in the annual Observer Ethical Awards.
Perhaps that is because she is doing something to combat the self-serving denial which clouds this issue.
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Having skimmed through the dross posted on this page. Is it any wonder the Country is finished.
You deserve what you get.
Thank god I have relatives in Canada.
This high rate taxpaying wealth creater is off!
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cherio then
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You will soon be back when winter comes!
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bring on PR, we must give all parties and all people a say and i would also like less MPs more devolution, more mayors, elected senate, more local government powers and more referendums,
lets have a real democracy the greek for demos = people kratos = power
people should run the UK not MPs
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i like the majority of voters (nearly 2 out of every 3 people) just want to keep the tories out of power, we are a liberal country, a compassionate country with a proud history of social care and we are not represented by the nasty party of right wing racist anti european aristoractic millionares, if the tories get in i will personally take to the streets and march on downing street, they are not british, let them govern in belize, not my country
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Huw Peach, to me and many more like me, the Green’s are “mad”. Unless they are pushed, they will not admit that basically they are an extreme socialist “party”, knowing full well that many more would be put off if they knew this fact. I could tell you why Caroline Lucas won in Brighton but I would be treading on controversial soil so I will keep quiet in this regard but if they are so good, why didn’t they win anywhere else. The reign of this strident, over excitable, domineering woman will be short lived in my view. Of course we will now see her prop up her other socialist chums in Labour if the Lib/Lab coalition comes off – which I hope it will because it will spell the demise of the Lib Dems for good, this treacherous cabal.
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I totally agree with you Stuart about any Lib-Lab pact. I believe it will more than likely encourage support for the Conservatives, thus increasing their majority for the next election.
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Conspiracies, Secret Information, Treacherous Cabals, Political Extremism…I’m claiming Poe’s Law on that rant.
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i think there is going to be an election again in 2011 but surely it should be under a fairer system than this rediculously unfair system, britain is just not a conservative nation, we dont like them and anyone who deals with the tories will have blood on their hands and loose votes forever
i can see the lib dems splitting up over this
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You asked why Greens didn’t win anywhere else, Stuart (#32).
Perhaps it was because voters are traditionally more likely to vote for the policies they believe in when there is a PR system.
Perhaps it was because Caroline Lucas was not allowed to appear in the leaders’ debate.
Perhaps it was because we don’t accept any corporate donations and don’t have billionaire tax exiles from Belize spending thousands on our election literature.
Perhaps it was because we targeted our limited resources in a town, which already has a good number of Green councillors and at our leader, Caroline Lucas, who has the highest national and international profile after 2 terms as an MEP in the European Parliament.
Do you really think that Greens are ‘mad’ to spend scarce resources wisely to strengthen our future prospects, Stuart?
Surely this sort of budgeting is precisely what the UK needs right now.
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It will be the end of the Lib Dems getting into bed with the Conservatives for their own short term chance of power. This will be to the benefit of Labour as the cuts required to keep our heads above water will be handled by the Tories who will be disliked even more than they are at present.
It has been lovely seeing the Tories grovelling when they assumed a landslide victory.
It will be c*ap for us whoever wields the knife but at least if Clegg and Cameron’s marriage is reasonably successful they can get an extra £2-50 a week ! :)
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The one good thing in all this chaos is seeing the tory biased press reporters throwing their toys out of the pram! I would love to see the SUN headlines if the Lib/Lab pact happened.
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well done cleggy in spite of being rubbished by the right wing press you and your mp’s have stopped the right wing in their tracks and brought some sensible policies into the coalition. 5 years of stability and guess who will get the blame at the next election for all the cutbacks, yes cameron and clegg and its back to a milliband or balls new labour
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shame on you judas liberals, you will never have my tactical vote again
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