‘Hung’ Parliament makes governing tricky proposition

Conservatives join with Ulster party in absence of majority.

Britain’s general election has ended with no party winning an outright majority, bringing the second so-called hung Parliament in the last three elections.

Here are a few questions about what it means and its implications for the country.

Q: What is a hung Parliament?

A: It’s an unusual situation in which no political party wins more than half of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. Without a majority, the government cannot be assured of passing legislation and often has to rely on the support of other parties. Q: What happens next? Who forms the government?

A: Prime Minister Theresa May has gone to Queen Elizabeth II to get permission to form a government with the help of the smaller Democratic Unionist Party. She didn’t specify how her Conservative Party would “work together” with the Northern Ireland-based party. As the leader of the largest single party in the House of Commons, May got the first chance to put together a government and present a formal program, known as the Queen’s Speech.

Instead of a formal coalition, May could seek to govern through a so-called “confidence and supply” arrangement with the DUP, in which the Northern Irish party agrees to support the minority Con-

servative government on vital matters, such as the budget, in return for concessions.

Q: What happens if the prime minister can’t form a government?

A: If May fails to get a deal with the DUP that will allow her to govern, then the queen, following advice, could ask the main opposition — the Labour Party — to try to form a government. Given the election arithmetic, Labour would struggle to get the numbers to form a coalition government. However, Labour could govern as a minority government, too, even though it finished second in the election in terms of seats, should other parties give it the leeway in key votes.

Q: What happens if no party is able to form a government? A: New elections will be called.

Q: How common are hung Parliaments?

A: There have been six hung Parliaments since 1900. No party won a majority in elections in 1909, 1929, 1974 and 2010.

In 2010, the Conservatives formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, the first formal coalition since Winston Churchill’s government during World War II. In 1974, a minority Labour government was in charge for eight months because the Conservatives were willing to abstain on key votes.

In the other four instances, minority governments were able to survive as a result of agreements with other parties.