A cliffhanger which led to an unlikely marriage
For days the nation held its breath. The 2010 general election result was a constitutional cliffhanger which took Britain into territory not seen in modern times.
The result of the May 6 poll was the closest since the 1970s, leaving the Tories the largest single party but short of an overall majority.
It was a result which left the nation in limbo, but was resolved when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats became allies in a historic coalition government - the first since the Second World War.
For incoming Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, there was a price to pay for winning the support of the Lib Dems.
One was that there were Lib Dems in the Cabinet, and that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister.
Mr Cameron said that the new coalition would provide "strong and stable" leadership.
The other sweetener for the Lib Dems is more or less forgotten now, but it was an agreement by the Tories that there could be a referendum on electoral reform, something dear to the hearts of the Lib Dems.
Strangely, the referendum was on the Alternative Vote system, which the Lib Dems themselves did not favour, and when the referendum was held the British public rejected any change anyway.
In calling the general election, Labour's Gordon Brown knew that he had a weak hand after the financial crisis of 2008 crashed the economy, banks collapsed and had to be bailed out with public money, and there was a recession.
During the campaign he could however point to a later upturn in the economy. But what many people remember is his fateful encounter with a member of the public during an election visit to Rochdale.
He was recorded privately calling Labour-supporting pensioner Mrs Gillian Duffy, whom he had met while she was out shopping, “bigoted” and “that woman”, despite the concerns she raised being everyday worries on the minds of many voters.
When the results were counted, the Tories had 307 seats, some way short of the 326 for an overall majority in the 650-seat Parliament.
Labour had 258, and the Lib Dems with 57 held the balance of power.
There were predictions that the unlikely marriage between the Tories and the Lib Dems would break down. These were proven wrong because, despite tensions, it did not.
David Cameron was able to be Prime Minister without actually winning the general election, and the Lib Dems had a taste of power and a seat at the high table.
History is likely to show that the Tories had the best of the deal - as in the 2015 general election the Lib Dems were severely punished by the electorate.
