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 …
Gordon Brown continues to cling desperately to power, in a shameless display of contempt for public opinion, but his days as prime minister are surely numbered. A poll on Sunday showed 68 percent of Britons opposed to Brown remaining in office, and calling on him to resign. The PM held desperate talks over the weekend with Nick Clegg in the vain hope of forming a coalition, but so far the Liberal leader has failed to respond to his advances, preferring to look for a deal with Conservative party leader David …
With about 90 percent of votes counted in the U.K. general election, the Conservative Party has emerged as the biggest party, with over 300 seats projected, but short of an overall majority. The ruling Labour Party has suffered its biggest defeat in decades, and the Liberals have failed to benefit from “Cleggmania.” However, the early indications are that Gordon Brown is still determined to cling to power in a hung parliament, and will try to form a coalition government with the Liberals. This would be disastrous for Britain, and would …
Today’s edition of The Sun has an extraordinary image of David Cameron on its front page inspired by an infamous Barack Obama campaign poster, with the slogan “Our only hope” (hat tip: ConservativeHome). This is a spectacular, attention-grabbing piece of journalism, which is going to attract a great deal of interest Stateside, but I hope it isn’t an omen for the future. If Cameron becomes PM on Friday, which most opinion polls indicate he will, I hope he avoids using President Obama as a role model and looks instead to …
British voters go to the polls on Thursday in the tightest political race in the UK in a generation. Several opinion polls have indicated the strong possibility of a hung parliament, with a Conservative minority government led by David Cameron as prime minister. In order to guarantee passage of legislation under this scenario, the Conservatives would be forced to negotiate with other political parties, significantly weakening the government’s power. Other polls, concentrating on key marginal seats, have pointed to a small Conservative majority, which would give Cameron, if elected, a …
Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s visit to British troops in Helmand is a timely reminder of the unyielding contribution the British armed forces have made to the NATO effort in Afghanistan. As President Obama announces the deployment of up to 30,000 additional U.S. troops for the mission, it is important to reflect on the magnitude of the British effort too: Britain is the second largest troop contributor to the mission, with 9,000 deployed servicemen and more to follow shortly; UK troops continue to operate without national caveats, largely in the …
It has not been a good week for the Czech Republic. On Thursday, President Obama formally ditched the agreement to deploy elements of America’s missile defense shield there. Twisting the knife further on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened Prague with “consequences” of delaying ratification of Lisbon Treaty, making the statement completely unprompted. The Lisbon Treaty, a rehashed version of the twice-rejected European Constitution, is awaiting ratification in Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer has indicated that it could take a further six months to …
In a small, but hugely significant move, leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, David Cameron, has formally constituted a new parliamentary grouping in the European Parliament. The ‘European Conservatives and Reformists Group’ is the first European parliamentary party dedicated to a model of European governance that protects national sovereignty. Already comprised of 55 MEP’s from eight member states, the ECR includes former ministers of state and is set to become Parliament’s fourth largest grouping. The British Conservative Party secured a crushing defeat of Gordon Brown’s governing Labour Party in European elections …
