That's why the coalition will continue

From day one of this government, and before they even said or delivered anything Labour sentenced them to failure!

At first they said it will last only six month, now a year later and they are saying it might last eighteen month. If nothing, they (Labour) have proved to be consistent. However, the coalition partners have separately and collectively said in more than one occasion that their marriage is a union of necessity required to stir the country to the shores of safety – and although it’s a five years contract – and despite the challenges and the internal and external tensions facing both sides, this union is a traditional “Catholic marriage” with no divorce.

If we look at Clegg – whatever has been said about him in the past – from being light weight and naïve to calculating and shrewd – he managed his first year well and passed the test of coalition partnership. In his anniversary speech, yesterday, he tried to redefine the Liberal Democrats, not by being a centre left or centre right party but by being a centrist party – a party of liberal politics first. That identity gives them the upper hand in any future hung parliament, but the key to that future is in the success of the current partnership – this parliament. And although some members including MPs are not full on board, forcing a premature election is out of the question because it is electoral suicide they’ll never recover from.

Cameron on the other hand like most Tory leaders, his headache comes mainly from his backbenches – they are hungry for meat and potatoes not tofu with a side salad. They want more Conservative issues such as immigration, crime, Europe and less of Lord Reforms and changing things that don’t “necessarily” need changing. Similar to Clegg he is fully committed to the coalition and even though his party is polling handsomely, he will never risk an election. Add to that, he wants to follow the programme set by the coalition agreement, and rebuild the solid foundation damaged by thirteen years of Labour – a five years fixed term is a perfect time to achieve that goal.

Even though the two parties did not come together by design, they now need each other to deliver the changes designed and to strengthen their credentials – this merger might be a marriage of convenience – but some of the most successful partnerships are just that.