Political Poker

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

The results of the general election could not have been better engineered to cause a game of political poker. The next couple of days will be fascinating to see what emerges from this stalemate of an election. The real issue is to tackle the financial deficit, all the more so in light of the Greek tragedy and the fragility of European economies. And the second issue is a commitment to electoral and constitutional reform. It would make great sense if an agreement could be reached between the main parties and progress made on these two issues, with the promise of an election in, say, 2 to 3 years. Long enough to progress these issues, but not too long to create the bad vibrations that could scupper economic recovery and escalate our endemic political antagonisms even more.

Either Brown or Cameron could secure a deal with Clegg and the smaller parties. Brown has the first shot as the sitting PM but will probably need the Greens, SDLP, Alliance and maybe the Nats, who would certainly favour some types of proportional representation, to bolster any agreement with the Lib Dems. Cameron and Clegg would have a good working majority, but there is an enormous gulf between them on the economy and taxation. The Tories would probably prefer not to concede any commitment to electoral reform.

So it's over to you, Nick, who lurves you the most and whilst the mantra of the eader's debates was "I agree with Nick", who do you agree with? From a disappointing set of election results for the LibDems, you can outface either of the big players, or if you want, just let the Tories take the strain over the next year or so in a minority government and then have another go at a first past the post election. By which time the Tories may be in the mire of economic and public service collapse, and Cameron and Osborne don't take prisoners; they are Bullingdon boys. Labour under Brown would be tribal, although there may be a change of leader.  It is not an easy choice and not one to get wrong for the sake of the country.