By IRNA,
London : Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour government may be able to remain in power albeit with the support of the Liberal Democrats, according to a new poll published on the eve of the UK’s general elections.
The daily YouGov poll in the Sun newspaper Wednesday put Labour back in the lead in terms of the number of parliamentary seats it was likely to win despite falling short in the share of the national vote behind the Conservatives.
Support for the Tories was found to be unchanged on 35 per cent, while Labour was up two points on 30 per cent and Liberal Democrats down four points on 24 per cent.
Such a result would end in a ‘hung parliament’ in the 650-member House of Commons as has been widely forecast, but with Labour winning 288 seats, down from 345, the Tories would have 261, up from 198 and the Lib Dems 10 more on 72.
Although analysts remain wary about simple conversions of shares of the national vote in terms of MPs given the anomalies of Britain’s constituency-based first-past-the-post electoral system, polls show that it is doubtful if the Tories will be able to muster an overall majority to automatically form the next government.
In the event of a hung parliament, the incumbent prime minister has the right to stay in office to see if he can command enough support in parliament even if his party does not have most seats, according to the country’s convention.
Brown would then be able to try to forge an alliance with other parties to create a coalition, or may try to continue in office as a minority government seeking informal agreements. Otherwise failure to win a confidence vote would force his resignation.
Crucial in any negotiations would be the virtual power-broker position adopted by Lib Dems, which is traditionally closer to Labour than the Tories.
Should Brown succeed in clinging to office, it would represent a major turnaround in Labour’s fortunes, but some pundits suggest that the price of forming a coalition may lead to him being forced to step aside in favour of a new leader.
The other option of a possible Tory government would depend on the split of parliamentary seats in what appears set to be the closest UK elections in decades.
A decisive factor yet to come into play is the sizeable number of undecided voters as well as the turnout at the polls.