Who won the general election? Labour!
So now that we eventually have a result for the 2010 general election, who won? Perhaps it is not the Tories and Liberals who are forming a government, but the Labour party, which emerges with its principles intact and the chance to regroup under a new leader.
It is hard to say the Conservatives won when they have had to negotiate a deal with a rival party to gain power and will have to compromise so many of their policies. After 13 years of Labour with an unpopular leader, plus a financial crisis, the Tories should have romped to victory.
But while the Liberals are in government for the first time in 65 years, the price is to abandon many principles that extend back even longer. Having five men (no women) in cabinet may look like power but the party has lost its main selling point – its independence.
The voters are not winners either. No-one has got what they wanted. Socialists have not got a Labour government but no-one voted Tory to have a pact with the Liberals and many Liberals not only dislike coalition but totally oppose a Conservative alliance.
So has Britain won? A coalition government is certainly better than no government but while it may suppress the extreme tendencies of a single ruling party, it also makes bold moves harder.
The Tories can now rip up their manifesto promises of things to do within 100 days or in the first parliament, using the Liberals as their excuse. So the FSA regulator may stay in some form while inheritance tax concessions are on hold and capital gains tax will rise while banks are clobbered with a new tax. The national insurance rise goes ahead for employees but not for companies – but the £6bn of spending cuts continue too. So the economy is squeezed from both sides – which may save us from a Vat increase. It all looks like a patchwork quilt rather than a coherent policy.
And the role of Opposition to these policies now lies solely with Labour – though with no leader and voted out of office it can be expected to be a muted critic for many months. Even with a large handful of Tory MPs voting against their party on some issues and a small handful of Liberal MPs opposing the coalition, Labour is still in a minority.
But the Labour party will avoid the public blame for introducing unpleasant austerity measures. It will have a potentially popular new leader. And its principals remain uncompromised. There were no winners in this general election, but the nearest thing to a victor may prove to be the outgoing government party.
