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Gordon Brown lost the election, but he’s still the Prime Minister. Wait… what?

2010 May 8
tags: , ,
by yankeebean

yankeebean

This was the first election that I’ve been privy to in the UK (although I couldn’t vote in it which is still annoying me right this very second).

The whole process was deliciously British!  Including classic like:

  • Even though Labour and G-dog-Brown lost, Gordon Brown is still the Prime Minister for the moment – who in God’s name made up that rule??
  • BECAUSE G-dog is still ruling the roost, there’s been lots of mention about the UK’s unwritten Constitution.  I asked Mr Nice Guy how that worked, but he didn’t really know.  How do we know what the rules are if there’s no written constitution?  Wikipedia provides a nice clear explanation, but I still find it pretty stymieing.
  • At the core, politicians are all very similar, no matter what country they’re from.  A week after arguing with (and slagging off) Nick Clegg in the political debates, David Cameron is now trying to politically seduce him into forming a government.
  • There was a political scandal about people not getting to vote because the queues were too long!  The fact that the scandal involved queuing just seems so right somehow.  (Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s redonkulus that people were cut off – you know it was all the Lib Dem-ers, too – young, hip and late.)

I’m completely gutted that I couldn’t vote – I haven’t applied for citizenship yet (don’t have a spare 750.00 quid laying around).  Who knows, maybe I’ll get to have my say in the next one…

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  • http://sprute28.blogspot.com/ Kim

    I don’t know…the whole idea of ‘forming alliances’ is eerily similar to ‘Survivor’. Intriguing…

  • http://www.shesnotfromyorkshire.com yankeebean

    Hahahahaa! My guy was just saying the other day that he thought all party leaders should be put in a house and be voted out week by week…

  • Steve Shawcross

    Don’t forget that we vote for *parties* in the UK, not Prime Ministers. Although the Conservatives won the most seats, they did not gain over half the seats in the Commons– thus we have a hung parliament. So nobody automatically has the right. to form a new government.

    In the event of a hung parliament, the Prime Minister (and his party) who was in office before the election continues serving, whilst a new government is sorted out (otherwise they’d be nobody in charge!) Once that has been done, then the Queen can appoint a new Prime Minister, thence the old government is discontinued.

    If Labour form a pact with Lib Dems (and other left-wing parties), that pact means that co-alition has the most seats, so will form the next government… since Labour would the senior partner, Brown would remain as PM

    However Nick Clegg has made it clear that he would side with the party with most seats/votes, which was the Tories. Over the weekend they have been negotiating hard, and is like likely that a Conservative-LD government will form.

    Thus David Cameron will go to Queen to be annointed Prime Minister, and Brown’s squatting rights will end!

    In any event, this parliamentary term won’t last long (not least because the Tories and Lib Dems disagree strongly on some issues), so expect another election next year.

    I would point out that hung p’ments are rare in thus country, last one was 1974– that only lasted eight months.

  • starle

    As a Civil Servant, I can say this ; “DON’T PANIC”…much like Hitchikers Guide etc. WE actually run the country, it’ll be fine ;-) Have you noticed the sky falling on our heads, the French….errr….EU invading, or anarchy in the streets (ok, more than usual !) ? No ? Hey presto :-D We represent stability, sanity, and general getting on with it ……. so it’s not like a new president who appears to bring EVERYONE with him to start over….the property market in Washington must be an absolute minefield ! It’ll all be fine, the country won’t fall, and no-one will endlessly go on about Chads…..a small country in Africa, I believe !
    Starle’s lesser half :-D

  • starle

    OMG, left SNFY on my comp!
    i have that as an excuse. My dearest has…opinions.
    x

  • http://www.shesnotfromyorkshire.com yankeebean

    Hahahahaaaaa!! Classic – stealth comments on SNFY :D

  • Mr Sparkles

    What’s even more bizarre is that you don’t have to be an MP to be PM. The Queen can appoint whoever she likes. The same for Ministers. A few Ministers lost their seats on Thursday, they’re turning up to work today because despite not being MP’s, they’re still Ministers of the Crown appointed by Her Majesty.

  • http://www.expatmum.blogspt.com Expat Mum

    Are you seriously trying to tell me that this is more difficult than the Electoral College rules here? Hmmm…

  • Steve Shawcross

    @Mr Sparkles

    Yup, Alec Douglas Hulme was a still a Lord when he became PM. However he quickly contested a by-election, and renounced his peerage upon becoming an MP.

    @Starle
    Or should call you Sir Humphrey? Yes, worth pointing out that the civil servants don’t change– hence how quickly one PM goes out and another comes in– the CS get straight on to it! The EU make the majority of our laws now, so they are the real masters ;)

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