Election raises legitimacy doubt

The polls ahead of Thursday’s vote show the Conservatives and Labour neck- andneck in percentage terms, but projections of the possible make- up of Parliament point mostly to a Conservative victory

London, May 5: This week’s election in Britain has prompted a heated debate about the potential legitimacy of the next government given that the party that wins the most seats may not end up governing.

The polls ahead of Thursday’s vote show the Conservatives and Labour neck- and- neck in percentage terms, but projections of the possible make- up of Parliament point mostly to a Conservative victory.

That might stop short of a 326- seat majority in the House of Commons, however, and the Conservatives may not be able to gain enough support from smaller parties to form a government.

By contrast if Labour could secure enough votes for a majority, it could take the keys to Downing Street despite having technically lost. This last happened in 1923.

As the countdown to the vote begins, Conservative supporters have begun to argue that such a move would be “illegitimate” in the eyes of the electorate.

Mr Cameron weighed in on Thursday saying it would create “a massive credibility problem”.

But Professor Robert Hazell, head of the Constitutional unit at University College London, said the only rule is whether or not any one party can rely on a parliamentary majority.

“There’s no rule that says that the largest single party has a right to form the government,” he said.

“It may have the strongest claim in terms of numbers but the rule constitutionally is that the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons shall be appointed as prime minister.”

In the December 1923 general election, Labour lost to the Conservatives but ended up forming a minority government with support from the Liberals.

That experiment was short- lived however and another election had to be held 10 months later in October 1924 in which the Conservatives won a majority.

In February 1974, the Conservatives came ahead of Labour in percentage terms but second in seats and tried to form a government with the Liberals.

Even though they failed, the Labour government that resulted proved unstable and collapsed, triggering another general election in October 1974.