What is a Hung Parliament and What Happens Next?

by Katy Murcutt - Paralegal

07 May 2010, filed under Consumer

The election campaign of 2010 has ended in a hung parliament. This means that there was not a particular party with a big enough number of seats to win outright. This is a common occurrence in other European countries such as Italy and Germany, but happens infrequently in the UK.

In the short term, it is likely that either Labours’ Gordon Brown or the Conservatives’ David Cameron will lead an administration. Gordon Brown is not obliged to resign as he was the Prime Minister and no other party has succeeded in winning a outright majority of seats. It is believed that the majority of the public will assume David Cameron to take the lead role as the Conservatives received the largest number of votes from the public domain.

The result of the election is, in essence, a minority government. This is because in order for a new party to be elected, they would have to hold 326 seats of a possible 650.

However, after the death of UK Independence Party candidate John Boakes last month, voters were unable to place their votes in the general election yesterday. This is because the party must find a new candidate to stand for Thirsk and Malton of North Yorkshire. The result of this is that one seat in parliament if is effectively missing, so out of a total 650 seats, only 649 seats can realistically be counted. Residents of the North Yorkshire towns will vote on 27th May 2010. In the course of history, there have only been seven times previously since 1918 where a candidate has passed away prior to an election.

There is no statutory time limit to how long a hung parliament can remain in force. The last hung parliament occurred in 1974. It is likely that the parties will be heavily influenced by public speculation and opinion as they begin negotiations as there are so few constitutional precedents for the parties to follow under the circumstance of a hung parliament.

It has been suggested by other media outlets that process may be rushed if market shares plummet as a result of public concern. As there is no constitutional restraint as to the timescale for a hung parliament to be resolved, we can only watch this space. It is likely the Liberal Democrats will join forces with the Conservatives to form a coalition.