Election 2010: PM Brown steps down to unlock door to Lib-Lab-led coalition

2010 ELECTION RESULT
29.0% LAB 258 (-91)
36.1% CON 306 (+97)
23.0% LD 57 (-5)
11.9% OTH 28 (-1)
After 649 seats declared.

GORDON BROWN has announced he will resign as Labour leader by September, opening the way for a coalition led by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Brown's decision came hours after it was revealed that Lib Dem negotiators had met with a Labour team at the same time as they had continued their talks with the Conservatives.

Until today, it had been expected that the Tories and Lib Dems would form an uneasy coalition or, if talks broke down, that the Tories would rule with a minority government.

Mr Brown had been seen as an obstacle to any agreement between Labour and the Lib Dems after the general election result showed him being rejected.

But his resignation has breathed life into a potential Lib-Lab pact. Labour have even promised the Lib Dems that a form of proportional representation would be brought in immediately.

In response, David Cameron's Conservatives have given their "final offer" of a referendum on changing the voting method to the Alternative Vote system.

Having gained a breakthrough from both sides on electoral reform, it now seems certain that the Lib Dems will enter into a coalition one way or the other.

But, while a partnership between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems would command a comfortable majority of 76, a combined Labour and Lib Dems total is still 11 seats short.

Consequently, Labour and the Lib Dems would presumably have to draw support from the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists, and the new Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

That would give the minority parties a disproportionate amount of power, further increasing the controversy over Scottish and Welsh MPs arguably having too much say on matters affecting England only.

The identity of the leader of the coalition, likely to come from Labour as the largest party in the group, will also not be known until after any arrangement has been made.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the media that candidates for the Labour leadership would only be made after a government had been formed.

That explains Mr Brown's extended stay at Number 10 Downing Street until September.

But, if the Labour-led pact is successful, the eventual Prime Minister will not have taken part in the leaders' debates - unless, of course, Nick Clegg takes over the show altogether.

Another problem arises from Mr Brown's promise that the voting system would be changed immediately, without a referendum.

While electoral reform is desperately needed, the lack of consultation may not sit well with the public, and suggests an almost Machiavellian desperation to cling to power from Labour.

Yet, despite all these issues, Mr Clegg and his negotiators may consider that working with the Tories is just too unpalatable, given the differences between their parties.

He may also think that a coalition guaranteeing electoral reform is worth the risk of any backlash from the public and the right-wing press.

Of course, Labour and the Lib Dems will argue that their combined popular vote was more than 50%.

But the truth is that the current system has not given them enough seats for what they want to do.

The whole situation has given the Lib Dems an almighty headache.

Either they go with the Tories, forming a clear majority government - but joining a party with whom they share little common ground while risking a referendum defeat on electoral reform.

Or they go with Labour and the others, forming a complex and potentially unpopular coalition - but gaining the much-needed electoral reform which will change the face of British politics forever.

It is a tough call but Mr Brown's resignation today may have just helped the Lib Dems make it.