Rivals admit Tories won the right to rule

Although senior Labour figures had hoped to negotiate a deal with the Liberal Democrats as late as yesterday morning, many of the party's MPs were urging them to accept opposition.

Angela Smith, re-elected last week in the new South Yorkshire seat of Penistone and Stocksbridge, had warned the party's standing would be damaged by further attempts to stay in office.

"I think the country made it clear last Thursday that they didn't want Labour to stay in power.

"Although the decision wasn't clear cut, there was a significant swing against Labour and I believe the Tories have earned the right in that sense to form a government with whoever. I don't think there would be any legitimacy in a Labour-Liberal coalition and I don't think the country would forgive us for that."

Former Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn, MP for Sheffield Heeley, was also realistic about Labour's role as talks with the Lib Dems broke down.

"Essentially the Conservatives got the largest number of votes, they got a significant number of votes and they should be able to govern and I think if they want to have an arrangement with the Liberal Democrats that's up to them," she said. "We lost a significant number of seats and we have to respect the views of the electorate."

Earlier junior Schools Minister Diana Johnson, re-elected last week in Hull North, was the first Minister to say she did not think a Labour-Lib Dem agreement would have enough MPs to offer a stable and strong government.

"I just don't think that, with us at 258 MPs, the numbers stack up," she said. "It's just on arithmetic – if you look at the figures and what the Liberal Democrats would bring and various other parties would bring, I just don't think the numbers stack up. There might be ways round it, but I don't think the numbers are there."