London: The latest buzz word in the clubby world of British politics is "hung Parliament”.
It doesn`t mean the current Parliament would be hanged, although some voters in these troubled economic times might relish that idea. It means an election so close that no party receives more than half the seats in the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament.
It is commonplace in most parliamentary democracies, but hasn`t happened here for more than three decades, and the very idea has sent financially-battered Britain into a tizzy, causing the pound to tumble.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown must call a vote by June 3, with an early May date deemed likely. The widespread assumption that Conservative Party leader David Cameron would win an outright majority in the new Parliament has evaporated.
"It`s just about 50-50 that we`ll have a hung Parliament," said Bob Worcester, founder of the Ipsos MORI polling firm, which will be conducting Election Day exit polls for British news stations.
Voters seem tired of Brown and the Labour Party apparatus after 13 years in power, but it is not clear if they have really warmed up to Cameron in sufficient numbers to give him full control of Parliament.
PTI
