6 - Bearish Britain

Summary

The 2010 general election resulted in a hung parliament and a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition government. Had the numbers added up differently it is likely that the Liberal Democrats would have made a deal with Labour rather than the Conservatives, but that was not to be. After five days of intense negotiations, the first formal coalition government in Britain since the Second World War was announced on 11 May 2010. The Conservative–Liberal Democrat duo was an unlikely match, composed of two parties with historically different ideologies, policy goals and bases of support.

The agreement between the Coalition parties provided a roadmap for their partnership and it constructed a narrative which argued that Britain needed a strong, stable and prudent government to deal with what had become a protracted economic crisis. This was a popular message at the time. The June 2010 BES Continuous Monitoring Survey revealed that 41 per cent of respondents stated that the Conservatives were the best party for handling the economy, and a further 11 per cent said that the Liberal Democrats could do the best job. In sharp contrast, only 23 per cent replied that Labour was best on the economy. Labour was clearly paying a heavy price for being in power during the financial meltdown and subsequent recession. The political-economic context thus did much to validate the terms of the Coalition Agreement and the new government it produced.