But then, to quote Harold Macmillan, " Events, Dear Boy, Events" - in the form of the upcoming 'Second Wave' of the financial crisis - will overtake the government.

When (not if) it does, a modern combination of:

(a) Solidarity/mutuality at the heart of 'old' Labour; with

(b) Radical liberalism from Adam Smith himself down through J S Mill to Lloyd George at the heart of 'old' Liberal;

will actually serve as the politico-economic source of the necessary 'Blue Labour'/ 'Red Tory' policies.

Such policies are the answer, if executed in the right way, because they systemically and sustainably address wealth and income inequality, without which no solution is possible.

At this point the UK Partnership government would slough off the New Labour apparatchiks and greedniks; the 'Orange Book' neo-Liberals; and all but the fully signed up 'Big Society' Tories.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

you know it's bad "when these pricks work together."

So the conservatives come up twenty short. (Probably 19 by the time that Thirsk and Malton comes in.)

But DUP has 8 seats, SNP 5, SF 5, PC 3, SDLP 3, Green and Alliance 1.

So the DUP strategy just cant work.

However, if Cameron is willing to alienate the DUP and work with Nationalists, SNP+SF+PC+SDLP+Alliance=17.

Ok still short, but if Cameron could get Sinn Fein and the DUP in coalition together, maybe he deserves to be PM.  

It's even harder for a Lab-Lib coalition to work.  They come up to 315, 11 seats short.

So it's either going to be:

1. Conservative minority government, most likely.

2. Con-lib coalition, which can't be stable, and will have to come at a high cost to pull Clegg in.

4) National Unity,  CON+LAB=546.  Seems the least likely, but if the City boys make the markets scream, and PR is the cost of bringing in the Libs to any government, why not.  I still think that a minority government that crashes is more likely, but if its known that that is untenable, why not get to the point.  Not to mention, the Cons and Lab have an interest in stopping any deal with the Libs that involves PR......

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

During the election campaign I said that whichever party gets most votes and the most seats, if not an absolutely majority, has the first right to seek to govern either on its own or by reaching out to other parties. And I stick to that view. It seems this morning that it is the Conservative Party that has more votes and more seats though not an absolute majority.

I think it is now for the Conservative Party to prove that it is capable of seeking to govern in the national interest. At the same time this election campaign has made it abundantly clear that our electoral system is broken, it simply doesn't reflect the hopes and aspirations of the British people.

So I repeat again my reassurance that whatever happens in the coming hours, days and weeks I will continue to argue not only for the greater fairness in British society not only the greater responsibility in economic policy making but also for the extensive real reforms we need to fix our broken political system.

However, I think there is a difference between government as business and government as management.

You can't be me, I'm taken

What I advocate for government is an 'open corporate' agreement/protocol with a consensually agreed collective responsibility to a common purpose.

What is not present in this - new - open corporate model is the bilateral responsibility - the 'several' in 'joint and several' of the (sub-optimal) UK Partnership business model of which you are rightly critical.

So it is not a partnership, but it does incorporate partnership principles of consensual sharing of risk and reward.

In other words, what I am proposing is an agreement, not an organisation. It will not own anything, employ anyone, do anything, or impose anything on anyone. It is simply a consensual agreement to a common purpose.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

I was having a devil of a job finding out what had happened to a couple of people I knew who had stood as councillors.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

● Paddy Ashdown on the qualities of Nick Clegg

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

'Sapere aude'