London, May 08: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron have begun wooing the Liberal Democrats in an attempt to secure their crucial support amid a fierce battle over the UK’s next government.
With neither the Tories nor Labour winning the key 326 seats needed for a majority government after the tightest general election in decades, the first hung parliament since 1974 was declared as vote counting began wrapping up last night.
While the Tories were on track to win the most seats in the House of Commons, Mr Brown refused to accept his Labour government had been defeated.
Both leaders made public overtures to Lib Dems leader Nick Clegg, whose support will be crucial in allowing either Labour to remain in power for a record fourth term or returning the Tories to power after 13 years in opposition.
Mr Clegg has indicated he will talk to the Tories first, given the Conservatives looked likely to win more seats than Labour.
Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg have already agreed to “explore further” economic and political reform in the wake of the hung parliament.
Both Mr Brown and Mr Cameron put reform of Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system at the heart of their offers to the Lib Dems.
Such an overhaul was touted by Mr Clegg during the election campaign as a key bargaining chip in the event of his party holding the balance of power in a hung parliament.
“My view is clear – there needs to be immediate legislation on this (electoral reform) to begin to restore the public trust in politics and to improve parliament’s standing and reputation,” Mr Brown said.
“A fairer voting system is central and I believe you, the British people, should be able to decide in a referendum what the system should be.”
Mr Cameron said while the Tories had failed to win enough seats to secure a majority government, the public had responded to the party’s campaign for change and delivered it two million more votes than Labour.
He said while there were many policy differences between the two parties, there was still some “common ground” and that the Tories would be prepared to make concessions “in the interests of forging an open and trusting partnership”.
Areas where the Tories could strike agreements with the Lib Dems included schools, tax reforms and dumping Labour’s ID card scheme.
He also promised an inquiry into electoral reform, despite restating his support for the existing first-past-the-post system.
“I want to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats,” Mr Cameron said.
“I want us to work together in tackling our country’s big and urgent problems – the debt crisis, our deep social problems and our broken political system.
“I think we have a strong basis for a strong government.”
So far the Tories had won 307 seats, Labour 258 and the Lib Dems 57.
Under Whitehall rules, Mr Brown as the incumbent prime minister has the first chance to form government by doing deals to shore up support from smaller parties.
If he fails, he is likely to resign and leave the Queen to invite Mr Cameron to form a government.
Before the public olive branches from Mr Brown and Mr Cameron, Mr Clegg boosted the chances of the Tories seizing power by indicating he would talk to them before Labour.
“It seems to me this morning it’s the Conservative Party that has more votes and more seats, although not an absolute majority,” he said.
“And that is why I think it is now for the Conservative Party to prove that it is capable of seeking to govern in the national interest.”
Mr Clegg, who described the Lib Dems’ performance as “disappointing” amid fears it would finish with fewer MPs than the 63 elected in 2005, said the election had shown that Britain’s electoral system was “broken”.
Voter turnout was extremely high for the election, with some people turned away from polling stations as they closed their doors yesterday morning.
While the Greens celebrated the election of their first MP, Labour’s former home secretary Jacqui Smith lost her seat, along with several other junior ministers.
Millionaire Zac Goldsmith, brother of socialite Jemima Goldsmith, won Richmond Park for the Tories, while the far right British National Party leader Nick Griffin failed to win the London seat of Barking.
–Agencies