Election aftermath: 'This would be a strange and volatile marriage'

IN LINE with one of the most rollercoaster general election campaigns of recent times, the post-poll aftermath is febrile to say the least this weekend.

Events are moving quickly, but some pretty stark truths seem clear at the time of going to press.

For a start, it gives us no great pleasure to say that Gordon Brown is surely finished as Prime Minister. He may cling on for a few days but his resignation must be coming.

His departure will set the scene for another major development: we are about to have a coalition government, or at least one whose policies are agreed by more than one party.

There is still an outside chance that UK government could be Labour-led, with the Lib Dems as minority partners with an influence way beyond their size. Others could be involved in a loose quid pro quo arrangement – even the SNP.

But if Brown does help broker such an unlikely union it will surely be his last big act as Labour leader and Prime Minister. Nick Clegg, at least, will insist that he steps aside.

Besides, it now seems more likely that if there is to be a coalition it will see the Lib Dems get into bed with the Conservatives. This would be a strange and volatile marriage.

David Cameron's bid to woo the Lib Dems yesterday was markedly less desperate than that made by Brown.

But in setting out the policies he sees as inviolable in any working agreement between them he underlined the width of the gulf between the parties.

On Trident, on more powers for the EU, on immigration control and, most of all, on the need for immediate austerity cuts to tackle the national debt, the Tories and the Lib Dems are miles apart.

A Labour-Lib Dem pact would make some sense, given Brown's U-turn on voting reform. But a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition makes none.

Cameron must know such an alliance couldn't last, and a looser "confidence and supply" deal seems more likely.

Or, indeed, Clegg could yet turn back to Brown, whose promise of a quick referendum on electoral reform could hand the Lib Dems an all-but permanent share in power.

Having dreamed of electoral success during the campaign, Clegg's party may not forgive him if he doesn't take the chance to deliver just that – from either suitor. But it would be an odd reward for a party which is in demand despite its public support falling last week.