Gisela Stuart, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, has said that Labour shouldn’t rule out forming a ‘grand coalition’ with the Tories after the next election if neither party win a majority.
Stuart told the Financial Times (£):
“If on May 8 you had a position where Labour had more seats than the Tories but not enough to form a government — but the Tories had more votes than Labour — I think you should not dismiss the possibility of a grand coalition in terms of regrouping of the main”
Stuart, who was born in Germany, went on to compare the UK to Germany, where there is currently a left/right coalition between the CDU and the Social Democrats:
“When you have to make very difficult decisions, the broader the baseline from which you work, the more you are able to do these things. If no party has won an overall majority then it will have to work with another party. And as you work through the options, do not rule out that you have a grand coalition.”
Needless to say, this isn’t likely to be a popular suggestion among most Labour supporters or MPs…
More from LabourList
‘Scrapping the two-child limit is a huge moral victory, but our social security system still traps families in poverty’
Labour split over North Sea oil and gas drilling as fuel costs rise
‘Key provisions in Employment Rights Act and scrapping of two-child benefit cap come into force today’