We could see both David Cameron and Ed Miliband as Prime Ministers in the next five years.
With HSBC citing uncertainty as one of the reasons they’re thinking of moving their headquarters from Britain it is worth considering how long the uncertainty could go on.
As Labour are still baulking at the idea of a deal with Nicola Sturgeon could the idea of a Grand Coalition be less far fetched than it once seemed? Obviously a formal coalition is absurd, but in the event David Cameron wins the most seats but not enough to form a majority with the Liberal Democrats would Ed Miliband really bring them down?
Constitutionally he’d be within his rights to attempt a minority government deal with the SNP. But he’d face fury over his legitimacy as Prime Minister from day one. He might therefore calculate that it is better to be seen putting country before party, saying Cameron has won the right to attempt a government and support his Queen’s Speech.
The Tories would then have to massively compromise on what they attempted to do. There’d be no question of a Europe referendum and those £12 billion welfare cuts would be off the table. Miliband would then be praised for having done the statesmanlike thing, and could save his leadership in the face of defeat, ready to spring and defeat the Conservatives whenever he wants.
At some point he could bring Cameron to a standstill, effectively forcing him to give up and then be the man who rode to Britain’s rescue forming a minority government to lead the country from crisis. If I was game planning the Labour strategy I think that would make sense.
We could easily see both David Cameron and Ed Miliband as Prime Ministers in the next five years. And that’s before we even start thinking about Boris Johnson and Chuka Umunna.