Cleg says he will stick to his pledge

[malaise]

that the party with the most votes and most seats should have the right to form the government first. On the other hand he wants real reform to fix the electoral system.

Put simply - move from first past the post to proportional representation. If Cameron does not agree to proportional representation, Cleg will link up with Labour.

[Turborama]

1. I don't think he'll want to do anything with them if Cameron doesn't accept his PR demands.

Could be an act of good gamesmanship, stick to a campaign promise and go to the Tories 1st knowing that it'll fail but he can say that at least he tried before getting into bed with Brown.

Also, it'll be the end of the Liberal Democrats if they go into a partnership with the Tories.

(PS, his name is Clegg ;-) )

[BzaDem]

2. I think it's more likely that Cameron will run a minority government

with the Liberal Democrats agreeing/negotiating the budget etc, but joining with Labour in the opposition to prevent service cuts and the rest of the Conservative manifesto. Though who knows. If this happens, it might help Labour for the next election (most likely soon), as voters might be disgusted with the Tories' attempt to govern.

[Turborama]

4. Cameron can't have a minority government unless Brown resigns

and there's no sign of that happening yet.

[BzaDem]

8. If the Liberal Democrats politely tell Brown to stuff it, I don't think he would stay on.

(Which I hope doesn't the Lib Dems don't do, though Clegg seemed to be doing so in his speech.)

[malaise]

11. More than that

Many Conservatives do not want proportional representation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/liveevent/

1209: Tory sources not ruling out offering PR - they could of course offer a referendum to do deal with the Libs but campaign against it, tweets the BBC's Laura

1210: Conservative MP Graham Brady says he would be very reluctant to see proportional representation brought in as part of a deal with the Lib Dems.

[Turborama]

15. Thanks a lot for that link!

BBC World have stopped showing the coverage now and that site's got loads of up to date info as well as the live stream.

[malaise]

16. It's way better than BBC International

Been watching since 2am - hubby thinks I'm batshit crazy, but one way or another I'd still have to do the research and this makes it much easier.
Cameron will speak in 30 minutes or so.

[Turborama]

18. I think Camaron is speaking at 2:30 London time (about 1 hour 15 mins from now)

They're now saying Brown is going to speak in a bit.

This is really historical stuff, I've been watching it for about14 hours, lol.

[malaise]

19. I love this stuff

big time - it helps that it's also my work. :D

[malaise]

3. He made a big mistake by making that comment

before the elections. Alliances should be based on ideological similarities not numbers.
I think you're right. Their supporters will ditch them if they join the Tories.

[Turborama]

6. He sort of had to say it though

because at the time Cameron was saying "vote Clegg get Brown" and Brown was saying "vote Clegg get Cameron". If he hadn't said something he'd have been seen as weak and ineffective.

Paddy Ashdown was on just now and he's let us all know what the Lib Dem talking point is, "Nick Clegg is a true Democrat and he's keeping his promise to the people".

[malaise]

10. Well he said it

so let's see how this pans out.
I love BBC election coverage.

[malaise]

20. Th nicest part of British politics is

the presentation of issues - none of the BS and lobbyists.
Good presentation by Brown. Truth is Brown will have to go once the dust settles - David Miliband looks next in line.

[Kringle]

5. does .. Lib + Lab = majority ? ...nt

[aquart]

7. Is 326 the magic number?

What's the current score?

[BzaDem]

9. 326 is officially the magic number. Due to technicalities, 323 is really the magic number.

Neither the Conservatives nor Lib+Lab combined will hit 323.

[brooklynite]

13. No...

326 needed for a majority...Labour + Lib-Dems is only 303. They'd need to get virtually every Nationalist Party to join them, which would likely mean a very unstable Government.

[brooklynite]

14. No...

326 needed for a majority...Labour + Lib-Dems is only 303. They'd need to get virtually every Nationalist Party to join them, which would likely mean a very unstable Government.

[brooklynite]

12. What exactly does "Proportional Representation" mean in the UK?

I've heard of "Instant Runoff" voting being proposed to generate a majority vote in each district, but that wouldn't necessarily generate a PR result nationwide.

[malaise]

17. Look at it this way

Cons would have 36% of 650 seats
Labour would have 29-30% of seats
Lib-Dems would have 22-23% of seats and even the smaller parties would have the chance to win a seat.

The problem with PR is that it invariably requires coalition governments.

[brooklynite]

21. I understand the goal, I don't understand the mechanics...

A "national list" vote would generate a proportionally accurate party distribution, but you couldn't do it with constituency-based elections, and while "large" minority parties would accrue enough votes nationwide to get seats, I'm not sure about "small" minority parties (like Respect UK) or Independent candidates.