Just to warn you my opinion doesn’t really kick in until near the bottom a lot of it is fact, so maybe the title of the post was misleading – ah well. Also I have no wish to patronise anyone I have just written this to explain everything so that people of all levels of political understanding can engage with the post.

This means that no party has what is know as overall majority, giving them the automatic rights to form a government (to get an overall majority you have to have at least 326 seats, as that the number of seats you need to control over 50% of parliament). So we are in hung parliament territory. This means that whilst the members of the house of commons have been selected the government hasn’t and it is down the the politicians to try to find a way to form a government from their party. This can be done by creating a minority government – i.e the Tories are a minority in the house of commons (they don’t have more then 50% of the seats) but if they can convince the other politicians that it is best for them to form government then the current Prime Minister (who has the right to remain in Number 10 until everyone has decided what to do) will offer his resignation to the Queen and around an hour later the new Prime Minster will be installed by the Queen.
Another way to go about forming a government is to form a coalition government. For instance if the Lib Dems agreed to work with Labour their combined number of seats would give them an overall majority and therefore they can form the government, this would be between the two parties in coalition with one another.
If nobody can make their mind up about what happens then eventually the Queen will step in, this is VERY rare and every effort will be made to avoid this happening as there is a separation of crown and parliament. However if it does several advisor’s from with Buckingham Palace, the political system, Academics who research and write about British Constitution and politics and other will be called upon to help the decision to be made.

What is happening at the minute?
The Lib Dems said all along that they would enter talks with whoever got the most seats as they have the mandate of the public and should be allowed to try to form government first. The Tories either need the Lib Dems backing to suggest them as the best people to form the government or they need the Lib Dems to join them so that they get a overall majority. These talks are going on behind the scene, for the action to go through the Clegg (the Lib Dems leader) needs to get the support of his party. This is where the problem will come in this plan, many of the politicians in the Party are not happy about supporting or joining the Tories – politically they take very different stances. It would be a very odd thing to happen really. There may have to be conferences and other meetings etc I have seen suggestions in the news that this will take at least a week.

If these talks don’t lead to a deal between the two parties then it would probably be the case that there would be talks between the Lib Dems and Labour. Although this wouldn’t lead to an overall majority further talks with other parties with similar political leanings would help them move further towards that eventuality.

What do I think, what would I like to see?
Well I don’t want to see Tories take power, sorry but just no! And this is very different to how I felt until fairly recently. Although the Lib Dems would have more power to negotiate with the Tories as they know that it is hard to convince the party it’s a good idea I think that it would be far from being able to mould the Tories into a politically palatable blend.
I would like to see talks being entered into with Labour, to help facilitate this it would probably be best for Gordon Brown to stand down (although he may just have to agree to stand down rather then doing so, as constitutionally this may open up difficulties because he would be resigning as Prime Minister before a new one has been decided upon). This would probably make the possibility of talks more likely and make it more likely that they result in a deal. It has been mention that GB has no mandate from the public at any time and therefore the Lib Dems may be uncomfortable in backing him. However I don’t wish to see another Blair take his place either. So hopefully a decent leader will step forwards.

It has been commented that the Lib Dems would be unlikely to want to back Labour as it would be seen by the public as backing the loosing party and they would not do so well next time round. HOWEVER, I see it this way – more people voted for a party with left leanings to take power then voted for the Tories. So actually the Lib Dems would be going with the grain of political opinion then against it. Their supporters are more likely to want a Lab-Lib coalition then a Tory one. By entering into agreement with the Tories they would probably be alienating their own voters and also Lab voters who may have been persuaded to vote for them in the next election (as they are already of a left leaning anyway). I think that the Lib Dems will loose a lot of support if they choose to side with the Tories. It would also be more agreeable with political opinion if this happened.

Maybe there should be a referendum on who the public want to form a coalition (thanks to Mairi for making this option apparent to me on Facebook). This would be the obvious option although may seem a little too much like having another election. Surely it should actually be down to the public to decided rather then the politicians.

Whatever happens we are likely to go back to the polls sometime soon different commentators are predicting anything from this October to around 18 months away. And actually I would quite like that I have really enjoyed following the Election (the first General Election that I have been able to vote in). Although it may not be as much fun next time if it isn’t as close and there aren’t the complications – it has lead to some great discussion!

Conservatives? until recently this is who I believed I Would probably vote for. However taking more note recently I’m no longer sure that their values are for supporting those in need. I just don’t think that it fits in with the way I view the world.

Labour? Well for the last few years I never thought I would get to the point of considering voting for Labour, however some of their policies do fit in with my want for the support for those less well off. They are far from perfect though, there are still things that stop me from wanting to vote for them on many other scores, but I may just end up doing so.

BNP? Nope, no way. End of. Even if racism wasn’t an issue I don’t agree with their policies and racism is still a big part of the party anyway, no matter what front they put on it has been proven time and again.

Green? Yes actually I think I would, in fact I did in the European election, however what stops me from voting for them more then anything is the point above, I think it would be better to use my vote strategically to stop the BNP making gains. But should it be more about who I want to vote for then who I want to stop?

How about selecting a party that shares my Christian values so The Christian Party? Nope because they don’t really have the same Christian Values as me, well no on all issues anyway. And their policies are not strong enough anyway and I don’t agree with them all.

I have considered spoiling my ballot paper, to show that I have actively chosen not to vote for anyone rather then apathetically not bothered, and by which still having a voice in the election process. But then I may as well vote for a part that is unlikely to get in who I would want to vote for.

Monster raving loony? I would actually really like to see them get in just to see what happens, but live in hope that parliament gets dissolved VERY shortly after they got power. Maybe I won’t vote for them after all.

I really don’t know, any I haven’t got long to decide. Hopefully with some more investigation I will make the decision between now and then.

(yeah I know it’s not structurally an ode – but what ya gonna do? :p)

Disclaimer:
list in no particular order. Many things will have been forgotten about (I am sure I will remember then just after posting this!) which may have been better placed in the top ten then some of the items in it. This is purely for fun and has had no scientific analysis to prove that these were the best events of 2009, just how I seem to remember it!

I love this video

However God has been speaking to me over the last year or so really, trying to get me to really and truly understand grace. Through people he has put in my life, songs, Bible passages and situations the message is there. Even to the point where I spoke about it myself but still couldn’t get it in my own life. It’s easy to understand grace working in someone else’s life but it’s hard to accept in our own. However through God’s persistence with me, wanting me to understand and be able to accept his great gift I am finally getting it and this week more then ever I have been able to accept it in my life more.

Hebrews tells us to “approach the throne of Grace with confidence” which is just amazing. We don’t need to approach God and his grace with guilt (otherwise it wouldn’t truly be grace), we don’t need to shy away (as I am all too guilty of) or try to explain our way out of what we have done, we don’t need to hide from God, for he has a gift of grace for us to receive. We are to approach the throne of Grace with confidence for we know that we will be accepted and that we will be forgiven, that God is there waiting to love us, for he loves it when we approach him and come back to him. He can’t wait to accept us and bring us back to his Kingdom and restore us ready to do his work.

There have also been a lot of other things spoken about that take the pressure away from persuming we need to be perfect, the disciples – not only were they the outcasts of the day the got it wrong, they misunderstood, they denied Christ and yet they were still accepted by him as his followers – in fact he chose them. God spoke to me months ago now, something that I included in my testimony for my confirmation that he meets us where we are and that he works with us from there, building us up. I was reminded of this recently when someone spoke of this interaction between Christ and Peter:

John 21:15-17 (AMP):
“When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do--with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep.

He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

“

Christ and Peter use a different work for love. Christ was asking Pert if he loved him “with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father” but Peter answers “You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]” it is somewhat of a lower form of love. Yet the third time Christ asks “do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]“. He knew that at this time Peter was unable to answer that he loved him in the way that he was asking him and he accepts this, coming down to Peters level. He met Peter in the place that he was at. That is part of the grace God holds for us, he knows our short comings and will meet us there.

There is more I can say but I will just leave you with a couple of songs that have helped. If this is something that you struggle with as well work towards being able to accept the grace God holds for you, that he holds for all. It is the message of the Bible and God wants us to approach him with confidence to be reconciled and to be part of his great Kingdom with him.

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