London Mayor Boris Johnson, left, and Prime Minister David Cameron arrive at a south London nursery school on April 22.(Photo: European Pressphoto Agency)
LONDON — Campaigning in an elementary school late last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson struggled to help a couple of preschoolers complete a jigsaw puzzle
"We can't be beaten by the puzzle," an agitated Johnson said. "It's a bit like the (election) campaign," Cameron joked. "It all comes together in the end."
Except it may not. At least, not immediately.
The British electorate will speak Thursday in the first general election since 2010, but it's quite likely no one will know what they are saying because the government may need to be pieced together in a process that could take weeks.
That's because neither of the two dominant parties that customarily govern with a majority of seats in Parliament — the Conservative and Labor parties — is reaching that threshold this time, according to the latest polls. Instead, voters are showing more interest in parties far out of the mainstream.
"In Britain, there's been nothing like it in modern times," said Tony Tavers, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. "Smaller parties have made huge gains at the expense of more established groups due to what is seen as a failure to represent a wider range of views as British society and opinion have become less homogeneous," he said.
Voters will elect 650 members of the House of Commons. In the last election, the right-of-center Conservative Party won the most votes (306) but not an outright majority. The left-leaning Labor Party took 258 seats and the centrist Liberal Democrats secured 57 seats.
That led to the first formal British coalition government since World War II. The Conservatives' Cameron became prime minister and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats became deputy prime minister.
Yet even that patchwork deal looks simple compared to this year's race. Polls show an unprecedented amount of voter support has been siphoned away from those three largest parties to groups with narrower interests.
YouGov, an online research firm, projects a third of British voters will support these smaller parties — up from a historical average of well below 10%. They include Nicola Sturgeon's Scottish National Party, which wants to see Scotland leave the United Kingdom's union with England, and Nigel Farage's U.K. Independence Party, which wants tighter controls on immigration and Britain's exit from the European Union. The Green Party is also forecast to outperform.
In Hove and Portslade, a highly contested constituency on Britain's southeast coast, Jacob Kahane, the local campaign manager for Labor candidate Peter Kyle, said his party was confident it would prevail, installing party leader Ed Miliband as prime minister.
Graham Cox, a former policeman and the area's Conservative candidate, said he was encouraged by what he was hearing on doorsteps from local residents. However, he said that if the Conservatives don't secure an outright majority — they would need 326 seats to achieve that — he hopes his party can form a government with the Liberal Democrats again.
Politics professor Travers said that if Labor also fails to win an outright majority, the most likely scenario would a Labor-SNP governing coalition.
The leftist SNP is likely to all but wipe out Labor in Scotland to become the third largest party in Britain. Over the course of the campaign, however, Miliband has played down the prospects of a coalition with the SNP.
Back at the school, the other tricky jigsaw puzzle is finally complete.
"Thank God for that. That was stressful," Cameron quipped as the last piece slid into place. Then, as a child moved to dismantle the jigsaw, he added: "Don't break it up again — I can't take the stress."
He may need to get used to it.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1GRAdyW
LONDON — Campaigning in an elementary school late last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson struggled to help a couple of preschoolers complete a jigsaw puzzle
"We can't be beaten by the puzzle," an agitated Johnson said. "It's a bit like the (election) campaign," Cameron joked. "It all comes together in the end."
Except it may not. At least, not immediately.
The British electorate will speak Thursday in the first general election since 2010, but it's quite likely no one will know what they are saying because the government may need to be pieced together in a process that could take weeks.
That's because neither of the two dominant parties that customarily govern with a majority of seats in Parliament — the Conservative and Labor parties — is reaching that threshold this time, according to the latest polls. Instead, voters are showing more interest in parties far out of the mainstream.
"In Britain, there's been nothing like it in modern times," said Tony Tavers, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. "Smaller parties have made huge gains at the expense of more established groups due to what is seen as a failure to represent a wider range of views as British society and opinion have become less homogeneous," he said.
Voters will elect 650 members of the House of Commons. In the last election, the right-of-center Conservative Party won the most votes (306) but not an outright majority. The left-leaning Labor Party took 258 seats and the centrist Liberal Democrats secured 57 seats.
That led to the first formal British coalition government since World War II. The Conservatives' Cameron became prime minister and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats became deputy prime minister.
Yet even that patchwork deal looks simple compared to this year's race. Polls show an unprecedented amount of voter support has been siphoned away from those three largest parties to groups with narrower interests.
YouGov, an online research firm, projects a third of British voters will support these smaller parties — up from a historical average of well below 10%. They include Nicola Sturgeon's Scottish National Party, which wants to see Scotland leave the United Kingdom's union with England, and Nigel Farage's U.K. Independence Party, which wants tighter controls on immigration and Britain's exit from the European Union. The Green Party is also forecast to outperform.
In Hove and Portslade, a highly contested constituency on Britain's southeast coast, Jacob Kahane, the local campaign manager for Labor candidate Peter Kyle, said his party was confident it would prevail, installing party leader Ed Miliband as prime minister.
Graham Cox, a former policeman and the area's Conservative candidate, said he was encouraged by what he was hearing on doorsteps from local residents. However, he said that if the Conservatives don't secure an outright majority — they would need 326 seats to achieve that — he hopes his party can form a government with the Liberal Democrats again.
Politics professor Travers said that if Labor also fails to win an outright majority, the most likely scenario would a Labor-SNP governing coalition.
The leftist SNP is likely to all but wipe out Labor in Scotland to become the third largest party in Britain. Over the course of the campaign, however, Miliband has played down the prospects of a coalition with the SNP.
Back at the school, the other tricky jigsaw puzzle is finally complete.
"Thank God for that. That was stressful," Cameron quipped as the last piece slid into place. Then, as a child moved to dismantle the jigsaw, he added: "Don't break it up again — I can't take the stress."
He may need to get used to it.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1GRAdyW
via Smart Health Shop Forum http://ift.tt/1E7erD3
No comments:
Post a Comment