Labour party arrogance cost them coalition decision

You may have watched the documentary on BBC2 last night by Nick Robinson, ‘the 5 days that changed Britain’. It covered, in detail the 5 days following the results of the general election May 2010 with interviews with David Cameron, Nick Clegg and other prominent figures in the negotiations (excluding Gordon Brown for obvious reasons) which lead to the coalition government we have in place now.

What struck me about the programme was the arrogant nature of Labour’s conduct throughout the important 5 days. Ed Balls, a key negotiator for Labour and a current leadership candidate claimed that ‘Labour did not have plans for a coalition government’. Does this imply that they were expecting to lose the general election in May? They certainly shouldn’t have been expecting a win. What’s worse is that even after days of negotiation between the Torys and the Libdems, Labour still weren’t willing to compete realistically for a deal with the latter. When you compare this with Cameron and the Conservative party, who from the outset offered the Liberal Democrats a generous deal (including a referendum on electoral reform, which the LibDems wanted so badly) and a list of other concessions it is no wonder why Nick Clegg lead his party to a coalition with the Tories.

The highlight for me however was Peter Mandelson’s comment in the early stages of the programme regarding Cameron’s decision to offer the Liberal Democrats a coalition deal. He commented that, despite Brown and other Labour leaders claiming Cameron to have ‘shown great weakness’ and made a ‘strategic error’, Mandelson in fact thought that the move by Cameron was ‘quite impressive’.

For me, as a Tory throughout the election (and importantly a first-time Tory) I was always impressed by Cameron as the leader of the party. His ability in the House of Commons to debate the important issues that face this country and also, to change the image of the Conservatives which had suffered two landslide defeats at the polls into a party that could be trusted with your vote again is an inspiring performance. And one which I rewarded with my vote and continuing support for this coalition government.