Dust settles after 2011 UK elections

One year after the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats came together to form a coalition government the partnership is trying to recover from a bruising set of election results. Last week the option to change the current system for the Alternative Vote was rejected by nearly seven out of 10 voters.

The whole country voted in the referendum on changing the voting system, and elections took place for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies as well as for many councils across England.

The voting referendum was a key part of the coalition agreement, and a long held ambition for the Liberal Democrats. The scale of the result means that it is likely that discussion of electoral reform is now off the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Speculation has mounted that Nick Clegg could look for some compensation in the form of changes to the House of Lords or the current NHS reforms under discussion. However, Conservative backbenchers have encouraged the prime minister to not give policy concession to appease his coalition partners.

The Liberal Democrats suffered further in council elections, losing more than 700 seats, most of which were picked up by the Labour Party, and in the Scottish Parliament lost 11 seats leaving just five MSPs. This final result prompted the Scottish leader of the Liberal Democrats to step down immediately.

The SNP was the big winner in Scotland, picking up 23 extra seats to seize overall control. Alex Salmond also claimed the scalp of Scottish Labour leader, Iain Gray, who resigned after his party lost seats having led in the polls earlier in the year. It is likely that during the next few years a referendum will take place on the question of Scottish independence.

Responding to the results, the Rev Ian Galloway, Convenor of the Church and Society Council for the Church of Scotland said: "It is crucial that the interests of those in our society who are the poorest and most vulnerable are given real priority as choices are made about how best to use our scarce resources. Parliament has an opportunity to show that deeply held principles of social justice are a mark of the character of the Scottish people in facing the difficult times we are in."

As well as gaining more than 800 council seats the Labour Party also ended up with exactly half the seats in the Welsh Assembly. It remains unclear whether they will attempt to govern alone or form a coalition government, as they have in the past with the Liberal Democrats or Plaid Cymru, but it is almost certain that Carwyn Jones will continue as first minister, a role he has held since 2009.

In the elections for the Northern Irish Assembly the DUP and Sinn Fein remained the largest two parties, both making small gains in the number of seats, but their share of first preference votes remained steady. The Ulster Unionists and the SDLP both lost a small number of seats and experienced a drop in first preference votes. The Alliance Party gained a seat and their share of first preference votes increased. The composition of the Northern Ireland executive will be finalised in the coming days - the number of ministerial positions available to each party is still to be confirmed due to complications arising from calculations needed for their allocation under proportional representation.

Source: http://www.eauk.org/articles/2011-election-results.cfm

Reprinted with permission