To: All political party leaders and the Electoral Commission
No coalition agreement without acceptance by the electorate
To put in place a mechanism for the electorate to vote on any negotiated coalition or supply and confidence agreement following a hung parliament after the May, 2015 General Election.
Why is this important?
In the 2010 General Election, no one party secured a majority of seats or votes. The two major parties attempted to negotiate support from the minor parties to form a coalition with the Conservatives succeeding with the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives and Lib Dems created the “Coalition Agreement” which was effectively a combined, negotiated manifesto. This was a manifesto that no one had voted for. This can not be called democracy and given that the situation after the May 2015 election will be similar, if not more complicated, there should be a mechanism for the people to approve any coalition or supply and confidence agreement.
In the event of a hung parliament any negotiated agreement should be put before the people in the form of a referendum. If there is more than one agreement they would both be on the ballot paper along with the option to re-run the general election.
