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The events surrounding the formation of the United Kingdom's government in 2010 took place between 7 May and 12 May 2010, following the 2010 general election, which failed to produce an overall majority for any of the country's three main political parties. The election, held on 6 May, resulted in the first hung parliament in the UK in 36 years, sparking a series of negotiations which would form the first coalition government since the Second World War. The governing Labour administration led by Gordon Brown was defeated in the election and lost its overall majority after 13 years in office. The opposition Conservatives led by David Cameron won the largest number of seats in the new Parliament, but fell short of the number required to secure an overall majority. Consequently, senior figures from both parties embarked on a series of make-or-break meetings with representatives from the Liberal Democrats led by Nick Clegg, aimed at forming a coalition government. As leader of the third largest party, Clegg had announced that the Liberal Democrats would enter talks with whichever party held the greater number of seats. A series of meetings with the Conservatives began shortly after the hung parliament was announced, and continued over the weekend after the election. Negotiations were also held with the Labour Party. The Scottish National Party (SNP) signalled its willingness to join Labour and the Liberal Democrats in government as part of a rainbow coalition, but it quickly became clear that Gordon Brown's continued presence as Prime Minister was seen as a major obstacle to formulating a Labour–Liberal Democrat deal. Although Brown relinquished his role as Labour leader on 10 May, the party failed to reach an agreement with the Liberal Democrats; the latter instead struck a deal with the Conservatives the following day. Brown resigned as Prime Minister on the evening of 11 May, and the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition government led by David Cameron took office shortly thereafter. The Liberal Democrats emerged from a meeting of their Parliamentary party and Federal Executive to announce that the coalition deal had been "approved overwhelmingly" shortly after midnight on 12 May, and later the same day the two parties published the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition agreement setting out the terms of their deal. While Cameron became Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister. == Background == The Labour Party came into government under the leadership of Tony Blair in May 1997 after the electoral wipeout of the Conservative government, led by John Major; this ended 18 years of Conservative rule. Having secured a landslide victory with 418 seats in the House of Commons, the Party had a working majority of 179 seats, and went on to win the 2001 and 2005 elections. During its first term in office Blair's government introduced many popular policies, including legislation to establish a national minimum wage, reducing the length of hospital waiting lists, and devolving lawmaking powers to Scotland and Wales.〔 Blair also played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process.〔 But his decision to commit British troops to the 2003 invasion of Iraq turned public opinion against him and lost him the support of some of his own MPs. When Blair stepped down as Prime Minister in June 2007 he was succeeded by his Chancellor, Gordon Brown.〔 Blair's decade-long premiership had been a time of economic boom for the United Kingdom,〔 but Brown's tenure as Prime Minister was dominated by the global recession of the latter part of the 2000s. Although commentators perceived Brown to have made some good decisions during the economic crisis, such as providing financial aid to several UK banks which found themselves in difficulty, his fiscal policy of borrowing and spending led to a dramatic increase in the country's national debt.〔 He was also viewed by the media as someone who lacked interpersonal skills.〔 Another major event that occurred during Brown's time in government was the 2009 scandal involving MPs expenses, which damaged the public's trust in politicians.〔 By April 2010 almost five years had passed since the previous general election (held on 5 May 2005), requiring a fresh election to take place. On 6 April 2010 Brown went to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament on 12 April in preparation for a general election. In a live press conference at Downing Street, Brown announced the election would be held on 6 May. The time between the announcement of the election and the dissolution of Parliament, known as wash-up, was to allow for the handling of any unfinished legislative business before the Parliamentary session's conclusion.〔 Labour campaigned to secure a fourth consecutive term in office and to restore support lost since 1997, while the Conservative Party sought to gain a dominant position in British politics after losses in the 1990s, and to replace Labour as the governing party. The Liberal Democrats hoped to make gains from both sides, and possibly hold the balance of power in a hung parliament. After the televised debates between the three leaders – the first of their type during an election campaign in the United Kingdom – their poll ratings had risen to the point where many considered the possibility of a Liberal Democrat role in Government. While Cameron and Clegg were generally well received by the viewers of the three debates, Brown's performance was considered to have been less successful. Brown's image was further harmed when he privately described Gillian Duffy, a 65-year-old pensioner, as a "bigoted woman" after she raised the issue of benefits and immigration with him during a campaign trip to Rochdale, Greater Manchester.〔 His remarks were recorded by a Sky News microphone he was still wearing as he was driven away from the visit, and were widely broadcast. Polls just before election day showed a slight swing from the Liberal Democrats back to Labour and the Conservatives, with most of final polls falling within one point of Conservatives 36%, Labour 28%, Liberal Democrats 27%. However, record numbers of undecided voters raised uncertainty about the outcome. The SNP, encouraged by its victory in the 2007 Scottish parliament elections, set itself a target of returning 20 MPs and hoped to find itself holding a balance of power. Equally, Plaid Cymru sought gains in Wales. In Northern Ireland the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) aimed to maintain or increase its number of seats, having been the fourth largest party in the House of Commons. Smaller parties which had had successes at local elections and the 2009 European elections (UK Independence Party, Green Party, British National Party) aimed to extend their representation to seats in the House of Commons. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2010 United Kingdom government formation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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