DUP deals and the warped world of First Past the Post coalitions With news that the Democratic Unionist Party’s 10 MPs are considering voting down the budget over Brexit divisions, the usual arguments are being rolled out about the ‘tail wagging the dog’ during coalitions. For two... Posted 12 Oct 2018
So who gets to be Prime Minister? In 2011 the Fixed Term Parliaments Act was passed. Setting aside its merits or demerits, the politics behind its introduction and the decision to fix the terms at five years, it is a piece of... Posted 06 May 2015
Who’s afraid of sharing power? If you were to judge British public opinion from newspaper headlines, you would assume we were terrified of the idea of political parties working together. The horror stories of smaller parties ‘holding the country to... Posted 27 Apr 2015
Taking your time forming a government Some things can be done in a hurry, but forming a Government certainly shouldn’t be one of them. In our recent report, Working Together, we set out the guidelines for forming power-sharing arrangements based on... Posted 20 Apr 2015
How popular is power-sharing? Yesterday the views of Brits were unveiled to the world. And in some ways, they make for some startling reading. The British Social Attitudes Survey – a renowned national study of voters’ opinions – was... Posted 30 Mar 2015
Working together What is the best way for parties to share power? How can you make minority government work? And how do you negotiate a successful coalition? These are some of the questions likely to be at the forefront... Posted 23 Mar 2015
Permission to share power? When it comes to forming a coalition, is it better to get your party on side before committing, or to take the plunge without consultation? The Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps has recently said that... Posted 19 Jan 2015