It’s worth reminding ourselves how we got here. In the aftermath of the banking crisis, we approached a general election at a time when national debt was spiralling out of control. The leader of the opposition, David Cameron, argued that in order to control the debt we needed to implement deeper cuts and to implement them more quickly than the cuts proposed by the Labour government. Labour and the Lib Dems argued that this approach risked jeopardising economic recovery. Nick Clegg said, "There isn't a serious economist in the world who agrees with the Conservatives ... [that] we should pull the rug out from under the economy with immediate spending cuts."
The economy was understandably by far the most important issue in the election. Life was suddenly becoming more and more difficult for millions across Britain. Unemployment was up. After years of prosperity, many people were finding themselves sitting on an overpriced mortgage or credit card debt they couldn’t afford. The public agreed that the national debt was too high, but the prospect of cuts to public services during already difficult times was difficult to deal with.
After years in the political wilderness, the Conservatives must have felt very optimistic. They were against a hugely unpopular prime minister; a man who’d never faced election as party leader, lacked charisma, and who as former Chancellor could be blamed for the failure to regulate the banks. They were in a prime position to regain their status as the natural party of government and sweep to power on a promise to undo the damage of years of mismanagement.
And yet, something interesting happened, the Conservatives lost the argument. For the first time, televised debates brought the political arguments directly into voters' homes. It was as close to a single issue election as we’re ever likely to see. Faced with the arguments a majority voted for parties that rejected the Conservative plans: Labour, Lib Dem, SNP, Plaid Cymru. Only slightly over a third of the electorate voted Tory. They were the largest party, but could hardly herald this result as any sort of victory.
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