Can Jeremy Corbyn once again pull off that rare trick in politics, of being a winner in defeat? Yes, say the pundits. The ‘fundamental asymmetry of this election is that while Boris Johnson, the prime minister, will be out if he does not claim a clear majority, Labour can lose ground and still put its leader in Downing Street’, writes Robert Shrimsley today in The Financial Times. Having alienated the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the argument goes, Boris Johnson will have no viable partners if he can’t secure a majority. Jeremy Corbyn, on the other hand, can turn to pro-Remain parties to sustain him in a minority government. With echoes of the outcome the last time a general election was held in December, in 1923, Johnson would lose office and the baton would pass to the Labour leader to form a minority administration.
In practice, the politics of a hung parliament will be much more complex and messy than this. Boris Johnson will have the right, as the sitting prime minister, to remain in office and to try to form a new government, unless the opposition parties can demonstrate that he would be defeated on a confidence vote and an alternative administration could be formed. Absent a written constitution or statute governing the formation of an administration after a general election, the Cabinet Manual – a guide produced by the senior civil service on behalf of the government – stipulates that:
‘Where an election does not result in an overall majority for a single party, the incumbent government remains in office unless and until the prime minister tenders his or her resignation and the Government’s resignation to the Sovereign. An incumbent government is entitled to wait until the new Parliament has met to see if it can command the confidence of the House of Commons, but is expected to resign if it becomes clear that it is unlikely to be able to command that confidence and there is a clear alternative.’
