No clear winner in British election
07 May 2010
The UK general election has had the result nobody wanted and no party has gained an overall majority. Negotiations will now begin, with one of the three major players opposed to nuclear power.
With its reactor fleet retiring one by one and the ruling Labour Party's major effort to enable private investment to replace them, the UK is seen as one of the world's best markets for new reactors. However, no private investors have made final commitments to build and renewables enjoy round political support from all main parties as well as binding European targets.
With no clear winner, last night's election will lead to days of great uncertainty as three main party leaders engage in private discussion to see if alliances can be made.
David Cameron's Conservative Party gained the most seats in the House of Commons (305), followed by Gordon Brown's Labour (258) and Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats (57). Smaller parties gained 27 seats and counting continues for three more.
The UK uses the 'first past the post' system where any party gaining an overall majority (326) would be automatically asked to form a government by head of state Queen Elizabeth II. The current situation where no party is in that position - a 'hung parliament' - actually grants sitting prime minister Gordon Brown the first chance to form an alliance and reach that goal or show a clear mandate.
Early hints from Labour indicated it may attempt to hold on to power, although Clegg's position had long been that he saw the party with the most seats and most votes (ie. the Conservatives) as the one with a mandate to govern. Gordon Brown said today he respected Clegg's position and would be ready to talk should Clegg and Cameron fail to reach agreement. Cameron subsequently reached out to Clegg with what he called a "big, open and comprehensive offer" including a commitment to the low-carbon economy. One likely alliance for the Conservatives would be with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, but this would only add eight seats. All three men said they would put national interests before party politics.
In terms of nuclear policy, Labour strongly support nuclear power and the Conservatives have said they accept the benefits of nuclear and will not undo Labour's work. The party capable of resolving the situation, the Liberal Democrats, opposes nuclear in favour of renewables but its main negotiating point is sure to be electoral reform. All three are broadly similar in support for ambitious climate change goals, large scale expansion of renewables and reduction of fossil fuel use.
John McNamara, spokesman for the UK's Nuclear Industry Association said business leaders had been working hard to ensure the UK was ready to build a new fleet of reactors. "We are busy engaging politicians from all parties to move forward in delivering a low-carbon future for Britain. We are working on supply chain, on skills and alliances to ensure the UK nuclear market is a world leader. We would urge the politicans to move swiftly too to ensure stably-priced, low-carbon energy supplies for the UK's future prosperity," he said.
On weapons, both Labour and the Conservatives would replace the Trident missile system, while the Liberal Democrats have said they would not replace it on a "like-for-like basis" but seek to find a cheaper as-yet unknown alternative.
Elsewhere, the Green Party gained its first ever seat for its leader Caroline Lucas and the prominent anti-nuclear former editor of The Ecologist, Zac Goldsmith, won a seat for the Conservatives.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News