LIMPFIFE: the U.K. election joins the ranks of the electorally ambiguous (UK map: uni-bielefeld.de)
Welcome, Brits, to the 21st-century club known as Lands Irked by Minor Political Fiascos Immediately Following an Election (LIMPFIFE). First, it was the Americans in Florida, then Italy in 2008, then Ottawa two winters ago, and now the United Kingdom is busy trying to figure out who, exactly, will be its next prime minister.
There’s nothing more fun than electing a “hung parliament,” the country’s delightfully naughty term for the situation in which no party wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Of course, Canada has had a minority government (our name for it is predictably duller and more emasculating) for years now, and along the way we’ve had plenty of opportunities to pick up some hints of what’s coming for the Brits between the chaos, bickering, and near-constant brinkmanship of a Parliament where nobody’s really in charge. Here, our top five things to watch out for after your electile dysfunction. (No need to thank us. You look pretty busy.)
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