If Nick picked Labour?

How would things be now if the Lib-Dems had chosen to go into coalition with Labour in 2010 rather then the Conservatives? Both in the case of with the same election results as IOTL, and if together they had had a majority?
 

stefanbl

Banned
A Lib-Labour Minority coming out of otl 2010 is rather unlikely.

Gordon would be gone regardless, though.
 
Clegg was adamant that Brown had to go. It would have needed a very unwieldly coaltion to get a majority in 2010.

Had Labour and/or the Lib Dems done better in 2010 Brown would still be out.
 
It would also have needed to keep the SNP, Plaid, SDLP and DUP on board, it would have been like the days of Callaghan revived and the chances are it will fail at some point.
 
A Labour-Lib Dem coalition isn't a majority, more parties would have to be involved. A 'Rainbow' coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SDLP, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and the Green Party would have been enough providing that Sinn Fein don't take their seats in Parliament but this presumes that Dennis Skinner, John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn and the Awkward Squad could ever be convinced to vote for the serious cuts to public spending the coalition would have made.
 
Doesn't need to be a majority, they could have tried a minority government, in the case that together they aren't enough. In the alternative, a situation where Gordon stepped down as party leader and it had been David Miliband or Harriet Harman leading Labour and this leads to a better share of the vote, then it could be a majority that way maybe?
 
Majority needed: 326
Labour seats: 258
Lib Dem seats: 57
SNP seats: 6
Plaid seats: 3

Total: 323 seats. Most likely ally? Democratic Unionist seats: 8

A majority of 5 seats. A flimsy majority, so it is probably bolstered by the SDLP, with 3 seats. Majority of 8. Enough to last for the full 5 years with any luck.
 
You would need an alt result in which Labour came first to force the marriage IMO. The numbers clearly didn't stack up IOTL and in any case Labour had lost to the Tories. His natural preferences were always for the Tories and Labour clearly were at best half-hearted about coalition anyway.
 
Doesn't need to be a majority, they could have tried a minority government, in the case that together they aren't enough.

They can try it, but they won't be able to govern anywhere near effectively.

In the alternative, a situation where Gordon stepped down as party leader and it had been David Miliband or Harriet Harman leading Labour and this leads to a better share of the vote, then it could be a majority that way maybe?

You could pull that off with Gordon still as leader, fairly easily. A uniform swing of 200 votes from Conservative to Labour would give them eight extra seats, and the Liberals two. m
 

stefanbl

Banned
Majority needed: 326
Labour seats: 258
Lib Dem seats: 57
SNP seats: 6
Plaid seats: 3

Total: 323 seats. Most likely ally? Democratic Unionist seats: 8

A majority of 5 seats. A flimsy majority, so it is probably bolstered by the SDLP, with 3 seats. Majority of 8. Enough to last for the full 5 years with any luck.

Having the DUP going with the a Lib Dem/Labour government is like having the CSU form a coaliton with the SDP/FDP
 
Sylvia Hermon the Independent Unionist can e relied on to side with labour on a lot of issues issues so that is one less MP in oppostion - but the coalition required on the 2010 results has too many elements to be stable for any length of time
 
Really? Where did you get that? Other then just the way he's acted since...

It came out a few months ago that he met with Osborne and co as early as March 2010 to discuss economic plans in the next parliament, and in January 2009 The Telegraph reported it had a leaked document that showed the Liberals would talk to the Tories first as a matter of preference.
 
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