It takes just a quick glance at the plethora of opinion polls floating about online to see that the next parliament is highly likely to be hung. The Tories and the Lib-Dems are both looking at big seat losses - but this certainly doesn’t mean we will be seeing Labour surging forth into majority government come May.
The Scandal:
It’s not been an easy few weeks for either the blue or red side of parliament. Both sides of the house were hit by the revelation that two of their respective political heavyweights, Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind, have been filmed accepting cash in return for their services to a private company.
Whether or not the former foreign secretaries were in the wrong, they have now been suspended by their respective parties. It’s not only opened up an MP’s second jobs shaped can of worms, but also fortified the image in normal people’s minds that ultimately the Westminster Old Boys mafia are out for themselves and not for representing the electorate.
The Scandalous:
In addition, the Tories have been hit by the HSBC tax evasion scandal and not dealt with it well. Whilst they have been busy trying to deflect the blame onto the Labour party like some sort of Poundland Jedi, a delightful video of George Osborne giving advice on tax evasion with an £8 haircut has surfaced.
This man has been in charge of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs for the past five years.
Whilst the general public generally fall for the coalition doublespeak most of the time, it seems on this occasion they’re wising up. The Tories are predicted to lose quite a few seats in May and would be right to look over their shoulder at the alternative lead by the ridiculous, yet persistent Mr Milliband.
The Scottish:
The SNP, The voice of Scotland, the great political galvaniser of the North: current polls suggest that the momentous optimism of the party will carry through into the general election and forge a foothold in the Westminster hegemony of the UK. Should the youth of Scotland not turn away disheartened after a narrow loss to the status quo in the referendum, they could well force Scotland's voice well and truly onto the Parliamentary agenda.
A quick glance at the polls suggests that a party wishing to form a coalition would do well to court the SNP, to encourage both unity and solid government. The danger however, is that that they will use their power to force their way out of the union once and for all.
Our top tip this week is any coalition involving the SNP getting into government at 9/2 with Coral.
We’ve also thrown in the ridiculous Lib-dem majority at 500/1 with Paddy for shits and gigs.
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Click to ClaimJack produces topical blogs for Howtobet4free tackling the key issues in the world of sport. Jack also publishes articles for a number of publications each week, and can be found on Twitter by following @JWinterr.
