Coalitions and red lines

With one of the closest and least predictable elections in roughly forty years, the only thing most people can agree on is the likelihood of a coalition government. Much of the debate leading up to the election has been around the lines that parties will draw when it comes to policy, and who these coalitions will be between.

Most prominently has been the Labour-SNP partnership, or lack of. Seen as natural allies, there has been huge assaults from the media and Conservative Party themselves on the possibility, claiming Labour will be “in the pocket of Sturgeon”. Though SNP have made clear that the Trident Missile system must be moved from Scotland if a partnership were to go ahead. However this looks unlikely, as Ed Milliband has explicitly ruled out the possibility of a partnership between the two parties.

On the right of the spectrum, Nigel Farage has come out to claim he would be willing to form a coalition with the Conservative party, if necessary to block a Labour-SNP coalition. With Labour’s comments on the possibility of an SNP coalition though, many are watching closely to see how the relationship between these two parties develops.

Much of the future of government depends on the Liberal Democrat party too- both Labour and Conservatives would be willing to form a coalition with the liberal democrats, though exit polls show that only Conservatives would be able to make a majority with the Lib Dems alone.

If the exit polls are correct the most likely partnership is a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, though they have been wrong in the past, and if either party falls more than two seats short there could be huge complications in the formation of a coalition. We would likely be looking at the DUP (Democratic unionist Party) from Northern Ireland making an appearance on the side of Conservatives, though they would be willing to work with both major parties if necessary.