After Clegg and Brown visited Cardiff last week, I have become more interested in UK's politics. Today, I read a article on gairrhydd 26/April(Cardiff's Student Weekly), argued about a question, "What will happen in a hung parliament", which makes me think about the diversity of politic systems.
A hung parliament is therefore looking quite likely for the first time since 1974, when a February election produced no clear winners: of 623 seats, Wilson’s Labour won 301 and Heath’s Conservatives 297. Failed attempts by incumbent PM Heath to form a coalition meant that Wilson went on to lead a minority government. However it was still necessary to call another election in October 1974 to ensure the majority needed for strong government.
And I read many materials on this topic, such as this on Wikipedia, and an article"英国大选观察：选票不等于议席" in China, I found my answer.
The obvious negative of a hung parliament is that no party has the authority to legislate strongly. Without a majority, whoever leads the government will have to barter with other parties in order to secure votes in the Commons. This means that the price for allegiance over parliamentary Bills could be concessions on policies that prove highly unpopular with the public. Additionally, despite talk of Lib Dem coalitions, it may be that whichever of the big two parties form the backbone of the government willhave to ally with some of the smaller parties. This could mean the nationalists or, in worst-case scenarios, more extremist parties. The price for forcing Bills through could therefore be high indeed. Add to this the fact that the economy may suffer further if Britain is perceived as a country with weak government, and we could be in a similar situation to the worse aspects of the mid-1970s.
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