The election in the “United Kingdom” looks very disunited.

The easiest way to become prime minister is to win more MPs than all the other parties put together.  326. would be enough for a government to vote through new laws without being defeated by their opponents.

BUT .. as of today, a day before the lection, it appears no party can get a majority. The majority of Brits are probably socialist ..well to the left of either major party in the US .  So .. one might expect Labour to win but, but in Scotland “socialist” can mean voting for the separatist Scotish Democrats.  Labour (the Socialist Party)  has said it will not form a government with the separatists.

When no single party can get enough MPs to form a majority there will be a frenzied round of talks between the party leaders and their negotiating teams to create a  coalition behind either Conservative leader David Cameron or Labour leader Ed Miliband.  in theory this could mean a grand collation, but this is unlikely given the policies of the two parties.

Of course, being English, politeness rules.  David Cameron gets to stay on as prime minister and try to put a majority together. if Cameron can not do that, he is expected  to resign so that Labor’s Miliband will become the prime minister. There is no official time limit.

The key word here is “expected.”   There is no Constitution, just tradition.  Assumong the unmwritten tradition holds  nearest thing to a deadline is the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday, 27 May. By then one arty needs to be able to propose a government to the ruler.  However, David Cameron has threated to remain in power and gamble on getting enough votes to rule without a majority.  There have been suggestions that Elizabeth may not deliver the Queen’s Speech if there’s a question mark over whether it will get voted through.