Could there be an opposition coalition?
Discussion
Just wondering... let's say the Conservatives win a small overall majority, the SNP and Lib Dems do well and Labour doesn't. In theory, could the SNP and the Lib Dems (and others maybe) create a coalition to become the Official Opposition?
Replace party names with your preference, I'm just wondering about the constitutional stuff.
Replace party names with your preference, I'm just wondering about the constitutional stuff.
Usually, the largest losing party forms HM Opposition. In theory, all the parties sitting opposite the Government benches are the offical opposition. There is nothing stopping them for example, having Corbyn as Leader of the Opposition and a Plaid Cymru MP as Shadow Welsh minister, a SNP MP as Shadow Scottish minister, etc. But that would only create division within (in this case) the Labour party.
The Leader of the Opposition is a formal position - one with a salary and extra Parliamentary privileges (such as more questions at PMQs).
It normally goes to the leader of the largest party in opposition.
I'd expect in the scenario the OP describes, that the SNP and Lib Dems would have to formally merge to create a single party entity, rather than a coalition, in order to proclaim they could 'lead' the opposition.
It normally goes to the leader of the largest party in opposition.
I'd expect in the scenario the OP describes, that the SNP and Lib Dems would have to formally merge to create a single party entity, rather than a coalition, in order to proclaim they could 'lead' the opposition.
mr_spock said:
Just wondering... let's say the Conservatives win a small overall majority, the SNP and Lib Dems do well and Labour doesn't. In theory, could the SNP and the Lib Dems (and others maybe) create a coalition to become the Official Opposition?
Replace party names with your preference, I'm just wondering about the constitutional stuff.
Like the cooperative-labour coalition? Been going on for yrs. Replace party names with your preference, I'm just wondering about the constitutional stuff.
oyster said:
The Leader of the Opposition is a formal position - one with a salary and extra Parliamentary privileges (such as more questions at PMQs).
It normally goes to the leader of the largest party in opposition.
I'd expect in the scenario the OP describes, that the SNP and Lib Dems would have to formally merge to create a single party entity, rather than a coalition, in order to proclaim they could 'lead' the opposition.
I believe they also are able to sit on the Privy Council, which gives them things such as security briefings that the PM also gets. It normally goes to the leader of the largest party in opposition.
I'd expect in the scenario the OP describes, that the SNP and Lib Dems would have to formally merge to create a single party entity, rather than a coalition, in order to proclaim they could 'lead' the opposition.
Shakermaker said:
I believe they also are able to sit on the Privy Council, which gives them things such as security briefings that the PM also gets.
I wonder if the current PM, who was considered to be a security risk when he was at the Foreign Office, gets all the briefings? I am not sure that the Leader of the Opposition gets everything on security issues that the PM gets, but AFAIK he or she gets a lot of it. One of the comedy points of the now is that both Johnson and Corbyn may be useful idiots for Russia (I assume that neither is an actual spy). Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff