So, what's going to happen now?

So, we have a hung parliament. Nobody has an overall (absolute) majority of seats, therefore nobody has power. There are two possibilities from here-on in;

1. Somebody forms a coalition government.
2. Somebody calls another election in the hopes of getting an absolute majority.

The most likely situation right now is #1. The threshold for an absolute majority is 326 seats, and the Conservatives (the largest party) have 309 seats. If they formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats (57 seats), they would have an absolute majority of 366, more than enough to pass anything even with backbench rebellions. What is almost certainly impossible at this point is a Lib-Lab minority government, as their combined total (Labour's 258 seats and the Lib Dem's 57 seats) add up to a paltry 315 seats, which could be blocked by the Conservative party and the DUP, a unionist party in Northern Ireland who share many principles with the Conservatives.

In any case, it is the Conservatives who have the mandate to govern, having gained the highest percentage of votes and seats in the general election by a long shot. Nick Clegg has stuck to his word, going to form coalition with the party with the biggest mandate. Now it is just a matter to see what kind of offer they strike up - both parties are eager to form a stable, long-lasting arrangement to appease the unstable markets, and a shaky on-and-off coalition would cause mayhem monetarily. John Major has been interviewed, stating that cabinet positions for the Liberal Democrats would be a small price to pay for a stable parliament. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.

If this fails, the acting Prime Minister can calls for the dissolution of parliament, calling another general election. The problem with this is that the Conservative party has the largest well of funds to campaign on, leaving the other parties at a massive disadvantage on the outset. The lack of funds available to opposition parties may well translate into an absolute majority in the Commons for the Conservatives, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on who you are. If you're a member of the general public, is it fair that your May vote has been flushed away so quickly? If you're an MP who has spent thousands on their campaign, is it fair that all that money has been wasted? If you're a businessman or woman, is it fair that the markets go haywire with the current coalition deals being spun?

Again, this will be interesting to see.

Predictions - Outcomes

Now to see how well I predicted the results of the election.

There is a hung parliament, which is kind of interesting. The Conservatives did indeed gain a simple majority. The Liberal Democrats lost seats, which demonstrates my horrible optimism. Bercow did win Buckingham (much to my dismay). The Lib Dems held St. Austell and Newquay (Yay Steven Gilbert!), but the Greens won Brighton (Yay Caroline Lucas!). Neither the BNP nor UKIP gained seats. Everyone, especially the markets and Nick Clegg, was dissapointed. The MRLP were slightly funny, but not hilarious. The swingometer wasn't hugely used, and Dimbleby was very, very tired.

This leads to 7/11 - which I think is a grade C. Oh well.

In other news, I've been introduced to Clan Theory - the theory of how online communities (particularly in games) function and evolve. It's a very interesting topic for me, seeing as I have alot of experience in guilds/clans and how they develop. I think I will be writing on it sometime soon, but I must give credit to the person who introduced me to it (username: Cpt Cave), and the thread that he made.