Electoral Pacts - January 2011

At the turn of the year there were several articles in the papers and in the broadcast media examining the prospects of the parties in the governing coalition entering an electoral pact at the next general election, and this has prompted a number of constituents to ask me for my opinion on the matter. Crikey!  Are we short of news?

It seems to me absolutely pointless to be speculating this January about the political landscape in May  2015 (remember we are currently putting through Parliament a bill that ensures 5 year fixed term parliaments). All sorts of entirely unforeseen developments may have completely changed political reality by then.

I can probably conceive of circumstances in which such an electoral pact would expedient but my instinct is against such arrangements. I would not want the British people to be denied the full spectrum of political choice at the next election.

There are distinct differences between the political parties in the coalition that voters ought to be able to reach a judgement on.  I am keen to reform inheritance tax; claw back powers from the EU; repeal the Human Rights Act; and further restrict immigration. All these are objectives that my Liberal Democrat partners will not share, so, let the voters decide.

Now, it is possible that the success of the coalition or other developments here and overseas may diminish the significance of these differences over the next 4 years. Equally, however, the opposite may be the case.  The time to reach a decision on any possible pact would be no more than a few weeks before Parliament is dissolved – then we really will know exactly how the land lies.