Minority Government

What do the 1923 general election, the first general election of 1974 and the 2017 general election have in common? I'll give you a clue, it's the title of this article! Minority governments are minor in seats, but major in political implications for UK governance. Let's take a look into exactly what a minority government is.

Meaning of 'Minority Government'

In the UK, there are 650 constituencies which are represented in Parliament by the presence of 650 corresponding parliamentary seats in theHouse of Commons. In order to achieve a majority in an election, a political party is required to win 326 parliamentary seats, which is just over half the total number of seats. Parties that win a majority of seats are able to form a government through invitation and confirmation by the monarch.

However, a majority is not always guaranteed and sometimes parties may receive less than the number of seats required for a majority, this results in a hung parliament where there are two options.

1. The party that has received the most number of seats (yet still shy of a majority) has the opportunity to form acoalitionwith another party to make up the required seats to achieve a majority. However, usually, this offer to form a coalition is first granted to the incumbent leadership party. In a formal coalition, a government is formed with both of the parties and members of each party sit in the UK Cabinet.

2. The party that received the most number of seats can form aminority government. The formation of a minority government means the party in power will need the support of other MPs from other parties in order for legislature to be passed through with a majority.

Fig. 1 House of Commons Chamber

UK Minority Governments

Whilst theHouse of Commonsand the Westminster parliamentary system is often the most talked about when it comes to governance of the UK, it is by no means the only representative political body. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (thedevolved bodies)all have their own parliaments or assemblies complete with alternative electoral system these are thesingle transferable voteand theAdditional Member System. Minority governments in the UK are not uncommon and can be seen frequently in theScottish Parliamentand Welsh Assembly.

Theory of minority government

In theory, the ability for a political party to establish a minority government allows for an alternative mode of governance, which diversifies the requirements needed to form a government. It also ensures that a loss of a majority whilst in government does not necessarily lead to a loss of leadership completely, as the presence of a minority government is permitted.

When forming a minority government, there are two types of minority governments that exist. One is a minority government where formal support has been established. This support takes the form of aconfidence and supply agreement.

Therefore, voting in confidence and supply agreements is not on all issues, but usually on a narrow variety of important issue. In return for this agreement, the other party often receives concessions in certain areas.

The other type of minority government is when no formal arrangement of support from other parties has been made, in these scenarios minority governments rely on the fact that enough elected MPs will support their motions for votes to pass with a majority. Minority governments in such a situation gauge their support based on the ideological positions and policy interests of individual MPs. This situation is the most precarious as it places a lot of ad hoc reliance on those from outside the party and therefore this is often a last resort and occurs whenpolitical partiesfail to form a confidence and supply agreement or a coalition.

Examples of minority governments

Let's take a look at some key examples of minority government in the UK.

Fig. 2 J. Ramsey MacDonald, Former UKPrime Minister

The year 1974, is an important date to know in terms of general elections, this example will tell you why.

When it comes to minority governments in Westminster Parliament, 2017 is the latest example of a minority government.

图3 showi选区地图ng results of the 2017 General Election

Minority governments do not emerge solely out of the results of a general election. A political party could have gained a majority in a general election and formed a stable government, but as their time in power goes on, they may lose their majority. This could be as a result of by-elections and defections that lead to seats changing party hands, as was the case during LabourPrime MinisterJames Callaghan's time in office (1976-1979).

Problems with minority government

The problem with minority governments in the UK, particularly with reference to the Westminster parliamentary system is that they often struggle to pass necessary legislation in theHouse of Commons.

If the main opposition party (or even just two smaller parties) vote against the legislation forwarded by the minority government, they can prevent any of the proposed legislature from being passed. This makes governance ineffective and hinders the leadership of the party as despite being the party of leadership, the successful implementation of legislation can often be left at the mercy/cooperation of the other parties.

Even in scenarios in which there are formal agreements where parties agree to support the leadership party's minority government in passing certain legislature, the supporting party may often not always act in favour of the leadership party. This implies that these 'formal' agreements are not legally binding.

Another problem with minority governments is minority governments have reduced legitimacy as they are not elected by the majority of the and therefore are not reflective of the representation the electorate actually desire.