Tom Richmond: Should Tories and Labour form Grand Coalition?

This has not been an election to inspire or galvanise. Quite the opposite. It has been bland and sterile, controlled by party apparatchiks who have deliberately shielded their leaders from voters – the so-called awkward squad – for PR purposes.

Any pretence of debate has also been stifled. Five years ago, the advent of TV leaders’ debates suffocated the life out of the campaign. This time the near inevitability of a hung parliament has seen politicians, and commentators, hypothesise over post-elections coalitions and pacts at the expense of policy considerations.

This election, one that has done nothing to restore the public’s faith in the political establishment, was summed up by the hostility of the Question Time audience in Leeds last Thursday.

When each party leader finally came face-to-face with a plain-speaking audience let off the leash, they looked deeply uncomfortable and their interrogators were not afraid to show their displeasure when David Cameron refused to offer specifics on welfare cuts, when Ed Miliband tried to claim – incredibly – that the last Labour government spent responsibly and when Nick Clegg was challenged on his 2010 volte-face over tuition fees.

With neither the Tories nor Labour on course to win an outright majority, and both parties likely to find themselves at the mercy of the SNP, Lib Dems and others, the post-election machinations will be far more convoluted, and less clearcut, than those of 2010.

Already the insurgent Scottish Nationalists, likely to be the third largest party at Westminster, want the best of both worlds – the Tories out at any cost and a Miliband-led government acceding to Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond’s unyielding financial demands for the fantasyland they envisage north of the border. It appears to have spooked Mr Miliband, who said there will be no Labour government if it means a coalition or vote-by-vote deal with the SNP.

This brings me to the Lib Dems – Mr Clegg’s party wants total control of education policy, assuming it still has sufficient MPs to be a factor, while Business Secretary Vince Cable has his sights set on becoming Chancellor. And so it goes on, even more so if the Greens and Ukip become involved.

Yet the one option not up for consideration is the one outcome that would reflect the will of the people – a German-style grand coalition between Labour and the Tories which managed the country responsibly on a day-to-day basis and only passed new legislation if it was in Britain’s best interests.

Even though support for both parties has diminished since 1945 when they won a combined 95 per cent of the vote, they are still likely to receive two-thirds of all ballots cast this week.

And, despite the election posturing and partisanship, those occupying the centre-right, centre-ground and centre-left of politics do actually have much in common – they want a responsibly-run economy; a pragmatic relationship with Europe; investment in education and the NHS; the advancement of HS2 high-speed rail in the North; the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent and the preservation of the United Kingdom.

The differences are not insurmountable – the problem is reconciling this with those, like Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Labour’s health spokesman Andy Burnham to give two examples, who are incapable of governing by consent under any circumstance.

But people are tired of tribal politics. They want their MPs to be more civilised and constructive, not least at Prime Minister’s Questions, and use their expertise to advance this nation’s wellbeing and prosperity. And they want decision-making in the next Parliament to become less London-centric.

If this means David Cameron and Ed Miliband having to think the unthinkable, then they should not be afraid to do so. For, if neither man is in a position to form a strong and stable government, and a second election is not feasible because of the restrictive nature of the Fixed Term Parliament Act that only permits the dissolution of the Commons if two-thirds of MPs vote in favour, it would be irresponsible of both parties if they did not explore the possibility of an alliance.

Every MP should be motivated by a deep desire to do their very best for their voters and their country. A Grand Coalition – anchored in the political centre – has not held Germany back in the past. Why can the same not apply to Britain? It might be the country’s best hope of repairing Britain’s broken politics after this unedifying election served to further alienate the electorate.

Having failed the public with this election, Britain’s political leaders must not – under any circumstance – fail the country after May 7 or they will never be forgiven by those, like the prickly Question Time audience, who are left at the mercy of their self-serving decision-making.

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