Churchill’s Anniversary Offers Insights on Coalition Government in Britain
Ted Bromund /
Following Thursday’s indecisive election, events in London are moving at a furious pace. In just the past few hours, Gordon Brown – still Prime Minister – has offered to resign to facilitate the creation of a ‘progressive’ coalition government composed of the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and a variety of smaller parties. Meanwhile, negotiations continue between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. There is even the possibility that the economic crisis now gripping Greece, and threatening to engulf Europe, will lead to a ‘Government of All Talents,’ like the one that was formed in 1931 in response to the Great Depression.
No matter what happens, the result is likely to be a coalition government. But the British experience of coalition governments has not been a happy one. And this is a particularly appropriate day to reflect on that fact, because it was seventy years ago today – May 10, 1940 – that the last successful coalition government in Britain was formed.