In the end, the progressive coalition failed the stress test. The parliamentary arithmetic for a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition simply did not add up to "strong and stable" government. The prospect of such an administration being forced to rely, vote after vote, on the capricious support of Scottish Nationalists and Ulster Unionists was too off-putting even for those from both parties who yearned for this historic partnership of the two progressive forces of British politics. Just a dozen more seats for the Liberal Democrats might have made the alliance feasible. But that was not the hand the parties were dealt by the election result.
This is a cause for real regret. A Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition will not serve the cause of progressive politics in the way that a Labour-Liberal Democrat alliance would have. Liberal Democrat and Labour policies are closer and sounder on a host of crucial areas, from the approach to the economy to our relations with Europe. And of the two larger parties, Labour offered by far the more serious package on electoral reform. A Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition would have left Britain thrillingly close to the long-sought goal of a fair voting system. The Conservatives' pledge to hold a referendum on moving to the Alternative Vote – though better than nothing – leaves us with a mountain to climb as far as serious political reform is concerned.
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