UK General Election - May 7th 2015 (The Official Election Day & Results Thread)

[Хahar 🤔]

I haven't been following this super closely but one thing I don't get in some of the predictions and speculations I see is this: If there is majority for Labour + assorted lefties like SNP but the Tories beat Labour in seats, people seem to be saying Labour minority government is likely.

But, if SNP won't actually be in government with them (as also seems to be implied in these predictions) won't it be hell for Labour passing anything being consistently outnumbered by the Tories? In Sweden, at least, there is a huge distinction between a party being willing to do passive support (not voting against you) versus active support (voting for you). The former is sufficient if you have a plurality minority (like the last and current Swedish governments) but the latter is required if you lack even a plurality.

I feel like I'm missing something here so could someone tell me what?

Posters who know better can correct me, but my understanding is that it is, formally speaking, not possible to abstain in a division of the Commons (although one can, if sufficiently committed, vote both Yes and No).

[Хahar 🤔]

It seemed like the issue that hurt the Liberal Democrats most was tuition fees, in the sense that that was where they were perceived to have sold out. The raise in tuition fees was passed in December 2010 with the support of a majority of LD MPs. The questions I have:

1. Could the Liberal Democrats have stopped the government from implementing this plan?
2. If the answer to the previous question was no and the Liberal Democrats had withdrawn their support for the government over tuition fees, how would they have done in the following election?

[Хahar 🤔]

All four major parties saved their deposit in Belfast South, as did the Alliance and the Greens. Even UKIP came within a tenth of one percentage point of saving their deposit!

Lib Dems were already polling like sh**t before they reneged on the tuition fees promise and Clegg posted the apology video, no?

Their numbers were way down, but my impression is that breaking with the government over their signature issue would have helped them rebound.

[Хahar 🤔]

Buckingham is the Speaker's seat and of course the Liberal Democrats did not have a candidate in either 2010 or 2015.