Conservatives Take Control
- But on a Lib Dem Leash

So, it’s official – today, Gordon Brown stepped down as Prime Minister, and resigned as leader of the Labour Party and as one of the few remnants of New Labour. David Cameron is the new British Prime Minister.

The Tory party is forming the next Government of the United Kingdom – I feared this happening. Thatcher closed all the pits around the mining area I’ve lived in since my birth, destroying my father’s business (he was a coalman) and almost killing him, when heart failure as a result very nearly was his end. As a result, I’ve never supported the Tories. As I experienced adversity in my life, I found that they really didn’t represent me – they represented the monied classes – heck 18 of Cameron’s frontbenchers went to Eton with him, that doesn’t suggest that they’re in touch with the real world – rather cocooned, and privileged through their old boy network. I don’t see that they really understand real people – they spend very little time with them.

However, as Lord Ashdown himself expressed earlier – HOORAY!!!

I’m a card-carrying Liberal Democrat and have been for many years. We’ve campaigned for fairer politics and an end to the 2-party system that has kept us in the crap for many decades. Look at these results for the 2010 UK election:

Party	Seats	Gain	Loss	Net	Votes	%	+/-%
Conservative	306	100	3	+97	10,706,647	36.1	+3.8
Labour	258	3	94	-91	8,604,358	29.0	-6.2
Liberal Democrat	57	8	13	-5	6,827,938	23.0	+1.0

As you can see, the Lib Dems got 23% of the popular vote but 57 seats – whereas Labout got 29% and 258 seats – how could that every be fair?The old system doesn’t represent the people it’s meant to serve.

Fortunately, no single party could form a majority Government, so Cameron reached out to the Liberals with what he described as “a comprehensive offer”. Cue lots of negotiation behind closed doors – many people had a problem with this – I have no such problem. I was happy to let the Libs talk to any other party for as long as they wanted, to get the best deal for us, and a fairer deal for Society.

Reach forward to today, and The Lib Dems and the Conservatives are forming a coalition Government. Many online have been very critical about this relationship, likening it to dealing with the Devil. I don’t share their belief. At 12.45 this morning, Nick Clegg announced he’d had overwhelming support from his party, and they would be joining the Conservatives in the coalition.

“It’s an opportunity for what I got into politics to achieve, a new, diverse Government” stated Nick Clegg. I don’t understand how one single true Liberal Democrat can argue with that. We have to trust Nick, he represents our interests – and I’d much rather he was doing that as Deputy Prime Minister than as a front-bencher in opposition. As Lib Dems we now have an ability to temper and work within the Tory Party to influence a more fair Government that serves it’s public instead of dictating to them like the last 13 years of New Labour. Nick got full agreement from the Party – Lib Dem policy is always subject to a democratic process, unique among the 3 main parties, I believe.

Lib Dems in Cabinet/Government Known So Far -

Nick Clegg – Deputy Prime Minister

Vince Cable – In charge of Businesses and Banks (and probably George Osbourne before long!)

Chris Hulme – Health Minister (Not sure if this is right)

A Gent whose name escapes me (will correct when I find it out) – Minister for Scotland (Tories only have 1 seat in Scotland – they came 4th up there!)

The Coalition Document

The document detailing the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition is released later today (Tues 12th May, 2010).It’s going to the most-read document on the planet for the next day or two!

We’ve already heard of some great wins for Nick – the Libs in Cabinet and Government, Vince getting the Banks and Businesses (and get the Banks he will! Kill ‘em Vince!), The no tax until £10k – which will help disabled entrepreneur start-ups like my own to better afford the capital and equipment we need, starting companies on very limited budgets, a referendum on making voting and elections fairer and more representative of the views of more of its’ people.

So, today has been a great day for me. A week ago, I hoped we’d do well – but wasn’t 100 confident we’d win outright… This week, we didn’t win outright in the Election – but we’ve won a far greater prize. The prize of Lib-Dems in senior Government roles, and an opportunity to have a real say in the way the country develops over the next 5 years. Win-Win-WIN!!!!

Take care, and have fun out there,

Rob Bell

p.s. Check back for my ‘What is Cloud Computing and How Can It Grow Your Business?’ post tomorrow