By Lucy Phillips
25 February 2010
Whitehall is stepping up its preparations for a hung Parliament as prospects mount that no party will win a majority in the general election, likely to be held on May 6.
Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell was commissioned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to put together a new manual on election rules and processes. While the full document will not be published until after the election, a draft chapter devoted to hung Parliaments was issued early for consultation on February 24.
The move came as opinion polls had put support for the Conservatives at its lowest for almost two years, positioning the UK a step closer to its first hung Parliament since 1974.
On the same day as publishing the draft document, O’Donnell told a committee of MPs that there was a need for ‘as much clarity as possible’ about such a scenario. He said he would be visiting New Zealand to carry out research into its minority government.
Giving evidence to the Commons justice select committee, the Cabinet secretary warned that the lack of recent precedents for hung Parliaments meant most civil servants had no real experience of what to do. ‘Can we assume that the civil service is up and ready for this? No,’ he said.
But he hoped the draft chapter would establish a set of principles ahead of the election, such as the type and scale of decisions any ‘caretaker’ government should be allowed to make, and improve public understanding. The MPs agreed the document was ‘a step forward’ although aspects were criticised for being ‘vague’ and lacking detail.
Former Cabinet secretary Lord Turnbull earlier told the committee that there needed to be ‘better mechanisms’ for handling a lack of an overall majority after the election.
Fellow ex-Cabinet secretary Lord Butler echoed his concerns, saying the public was not clear what would happen in such an event.
Both former civil service chiefs said an immediate second general election was unlikely in the event of no overall majority because of public opinion. ‘The British people so detest being taken to the polls [that] if they were forced to have another general election they would heavily punish the person responsible for it,’ said Butler.
Professor Robert Hazell , director of the Constitution Unit at University College London, added that most parties would not be able to afford a second election, although there was nothing constitutionally to prevent them from holding one.
In the event of a hung Parliament, it could take up to a month for a new government and prime minister to be agreed. But Turnbull said politicians would be under pressure to move more quickly, particularly given the current economic situation. ‘The players will know they can’t spend a long time haggling or not making concessions. No- one will want to be blamed for perpetuating uncertainty or preventing an agreement,’ he said.
During the committee hearing, O’Donnell was forced to deny that he had reprimanded the prime minister for his alleged bullying of staff in Downing Street. The civil service chief said he had only advised Brown on ‘how to get the best out of his staff’, as he had done with former prime minister Tony Blair.
