The old saying is that the Queen's government must continue.Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but how would that be possible?Lord Morningstar wrote: As a final thought, it’s possible that the next Prime Minister of the U.K. will be someone other than Brown, Cameron or Clegg.
The Queen appoints the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is ultimately the person who can carry the Budget, which raises taxes so that that government can carry on, through the House of Commons. In most elections that will clearly be the leader of the majority party in the House.
Where there is no majority party the starting point is that Gordon Brown remains PM until the budget or another confidence measure is voted down in the House. However if it is clear that such measures will not pass he would resign.
It could be the case, for example, that Labour and the Liberals are prepared to form a coalition but not with Gordon Brown leading it. That coalition could get its business through the House. In those circumstances Gordon Brown would resign as PM but advise the Queen as to who he thinks could command a majority in the House, say Alan Johnson, the current Home Secretary, or Alistair Darling, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer. That person would then be appointed by the Queen.
These negotiaitons could be further complicated by internal party rules as to leadership of the parliamentary party.