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In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party (or bloc of allied parties) has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament (legislature). It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament^[1][2] or a legislature under no overall control.^[3][4][5] If the legislature is bicameral, and the government is responsible only to the lower house, then "hung parliament" is used only with respect to that chamber. Most general elections in a two-party system will result in one party having an absolute majority and thus quickly forming a new government; a "hung parliament" is an exception to this pattern, and may be considered anomalous or undesirable. One or both main parties may seek to form a coalition government with smaller third parties, or a minority government relying on confidence and supply support from third parties or independents. If these efforts fail, a dissolution of parliament and a fresh election may be the last resort.

In a multi-party system with legislatures elected by proportional representation, it is rare for a party to win an outright majority of seats, so a "hung parliament" is the norm and the term is rarely used. However, the term may be used to describe an election in which no established alliance among the parties wins an outright majority, such as the 2005 German election, in which the incumbent left-wing coalition and the right-wing opposition both failed to win a majority.

History[link]

United Kingdom[link]

In the United Kingdom, before World War I, a largely stable two-party system existed for generations; traditionally, only the Tories and Whigs, or from the mid-19th century the Conservative and Liberal Parties, managed to deliver Members of Parliament in significant numbers. Hung parliaments were thus rare, especially during the 19th century. The possibility of change arose when, in the aftermath of the Act of Union, 1800, a number of Irish MPs took seats in the House, though initially these followed the traditional alignments. However, two Reform Acts (in 1867 and in 1884) significantly extended the franchise and redrew the constituencies, and coincided with a change in Irish politics. After the 1885 General Election, neither party had an overall majority. The Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power and made Irish Home Rule a condition of their support. However, the Liberal Party split on the issue of Irish Home Rule, leading to another general election in 1886, in which the Conservatives won the most seats and governed with the support of the fragment of Liberalism opposed to Home Rule, the Liberal Unionist Party.

Both the election of January 1910, and that of December 1910 produced a hung parliament with an almost identical number of seats won by the governing Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. This was due both to the constitutional crisis and to the rise of the Labour Party. The elections of 1929 resulted in the last hung parliament for many years; in the meantime Labour had replaced the Liberals as one of the two dominating parties.

Since the elections of 1929, there have been two general elections that resulted in hung parliaments in the UK. The first was the election in February 1974, and the ensuing parliament lasted only until that October. The second was the May 2010 election, the result of which was a hung parliament with the Conservative party as the largest single party. The results for the 3 main parties were: Conservatives - 307, Labour - 258, Liberal Democrats - 57.^[6] Since the formation of this coalition, an Act of Parliament was passed creating Fixed Five-Term Parliaments, so that the next election will not take place until 2015. This was the idea of the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Party, who said that this would stop the Prime Minister, who is the Conservative Leader David Cameron, from calling a snap election as many Conservatives have requested.

Hung parliaments can also arise when slim government majorities are eroded by by-election defeats and defection of Members of Parliament to opposition parties, as well as resignations of MPs from the House of Commons. This happened in December 1996 to the Conservative government of John Major (1990–97) and in mid 1978 to the Labour government of James Callaghan (1976–79); this latter period covers the era known as the Winter of Discontent. The minority government of Jim Callaghan came when Labour ended their 15-month pact with the Liberals having lost their majority in early 1977.

According to researchers Andrew Blick and Stuart Wilks-Heeg, the phrase "hung parliament" did not enter into common usage in the UK until the mid-1970s, and was first used in the press by journalist Simon Hoggart in The Guardian in 1974.^[7]

Academic treatments of hung parliaments include David Butler's Governing Without a Majority: Dilemmas for Hung Parliaments in Britain (Sheridan House, 1986) and Vernon Bogdanor's 'Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution' (Cambridge University Press, 1983).

Canada[link]

Three recent Canadian Parliaments (the 38th, the 39th, and the 40th Parliaments) were hung parliaments. However, the term is not used in Canada. Instead, the term "minority government" or "minority parliament" is used. Although minority governments have tended to be short-lived, the minority under Prime Minister Stephen Harper managed to hold onto power from February 2006 until a no confidence vote in March 2011 resulted in the dissolution of Parliament and elections held on May 2, 2011. The subsequent election saw a majority parliament elected with Harper's Conservative Party obtaining a 14-seat majority.

Australia[link]

Australian parliaments are modelled on the Westminster system, with a hung parliament typically defined as a lack of a lower house parliamentary majority from either the Australian Labor Party or Liberal/National Coalition.

Hung parliaments are rare at the federal level in Australia, as a virtual two-party system, in which the Australian Labor Party competes against an alliance of the conservative parties, has existed with only brief interruptions since the early 20th century. Prior to 1910, no party had a majority in the House of Representatives. As a result, there were frequent changes of government, several of which took place during parliamentary terms. Since 1910, when the two-party system was cemented, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first in 1940, the second in 2010. At the 1940 federal election, incumbent Prime Minister Robert Menzies secured the support of the two crossbenchers and continued to govern, but in 1941 the independents switched their support to Labor, bringing John Curtin to power. At the 2010 federal election, which resulted in an exact 72-72 seat tie between Labor and The Liberal-National Coalition, incumbent Prime Minister Julia Gillard secured the support of four out of six Independent and Green Party crossbenchers and continued to govern.

Having hung Parliaments in both Australia and the United Kingdom at the same time, and also briefly including Canada as well, is unprecedented in the history of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Hung parliaments are rather more common at a state level. The Tasmanian House of Assembly and the unicameral Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory are both elected by Hare-Clark proportional representation, thus, elections commonly return hung parliaments. In other states and territories, candidates contest single-member seats. With far fewer seats than federal parliament, hung parliaments are more likely to be elected. Recent examples include New South Wales in 1991, Queensland in 1995, Victoria in 1999, South Australia in 2002, Western Australia in 2008, the Australian Capital Territory in 2008, and Tasmania in 2010.

Consequences[link]

This section requires expansion.

In countries used to decisive election outcomes, a hung parliament is often viewed as an unfavourable outcome, leading to relatively weak and unstable government. A period of uncertainty after the election is common, as major party leaders negotiate with independents and minor parties to establish a working majority.

An aspiring head of government may seek to build a coalition government; in Westminster systems, this typically involves agreement on a joint legislative programme and a number of ministerial posts going to the minor coalition partners, in return for a stable majority. Alternatively, a minority government may be formed, establishing confidence and supply agreements in return for policy concessions agreed in advance, or relying on case by case support.

United Kingdom[link]

In the February 1974 General Election, sitting Prime Minister Edward Heath refused at first to resign, attempting to build a coalition government despite winning fewer seats (though gaining more votes) than the then opposition Labour Party. He was unable to do this, and so the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson took over, in a minority government.

In the 2010 UK General Election, another hung parliament occurred, and discussions followed to help create a stable government. This resulted in agreement on a coalition government, which was also a majority government, between the Conservative Party, which won the most votes and seats in the election, and the Liberal Democrats. Despite all controversy that the Queen would call for a re-election the agreement of a coalition government Had been accepted.

Australia[link]

In the Western Australian state election of 2008 the Australian Labor Party won more seats than the Liberal Party at 28 to 24. The National Party along with three independents had the seats needed to give either party a majority. To help the Liberal Party form government, the Nationals supported the party on the condition that the Royalties for Regions policy was implemented.

In the 1999 Victorian state election, the Labor Party won 42 seats, while the incumbent Liberal National Coalition retained 43, with 3 seats falling to independents. The Labor Party formed a minority government with the 3 independents.

The 2010 Tasmanian state election resulted in a hung parliament. After a period of negotiation, the incumbent Labor government led by David Bartlett was recommissioned, but containing the Leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Nick McKim, as a minister, and the Greens' Cassy O'Connor as Cabinet Secretary.

In the 2010 Federal election, neither Labor nor the Liberal coalition secured the majority of seats required to form a Government in their own right. Ultimately, a government was formed by Julia Gillard with the help of three independent members and a Greens member for the Australian House of Representatives.

Greece[link]

The 2012 elections in Greece were overshadowed by the country's dire financial position, with a heavy backlash against the ruling parties that supported stiff austerity measures. The ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement party lost much ground, with no party having the numbers or the agreement to form a working coalition. As a result, new elections will immediately be held.^[8]

Working majority[link]

This section requires expansion.

There have been occasions when, although a parliament or assembly is technically hung, the party in power has a working majority. For example in the United Kingdom the tradition is that the Speaker and Deputy Speakers do not vote and Sinn Féin MPs never take their seats, so these members can be discounted from the opposition numbers.

United Kingdom[link]

In 2005 for Wales, this was the case in the National Assembly for Wales, where Labour lost their majority when Peter Law was expelled for standing against the official candidate in the 2005 Westminster election in the Blaenau Gwent constituency. When the Assembly was first elected on 1 May 2003, Labour won 30 seats, Plaid Cymru won 12, the Conservatives won 11, Liberal Democrats won 6, and the John Marek Independent Party won a seat. When Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid) was reelected as the presiding officer, this reduced the number of opposition AMs who could vote to 29, as the presiding officer only votes in the event of a tie, and even then not on party political lines but rather according to Speaker Denison's rule. Labour, thus, had a working majority of one seat. This was lost when Law ran in Blaenau Gwent.^[9]

See also[link]

• Divided government
• Coalition government
• Majority government
• Minority government

References[link]

External links[link]

United Kingdom[link]

• Q&A: What is a hung parliament?, BBC, 8 March 2010
• Hung Parliaments: What you need to know, Institute for Government 2010
• Hung Parliament News New Statesman
• Hang Em Pressure group
• Charter 2010 Planning for a hung parliament

Armando Giovanni Iannucci ( /ɑrˈmændoʊ jəˈnuːtʃi/; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish^[1] comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy.

Rising quickly through BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour was transferred to television as The Day Today. A character from this series, Alan Partridge, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes including Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. In the meantime, Iannucci also fronted the satirical Armistice review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4.^[2]

Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom The Thick of It as well as the spoof documentary Time Trumpet in 2006.^[2] Winning funding from the UK Film Council, he directed a critically acclaimed feature film In the Loop featuring characters from The Thick of It in 2009. As a result of these works, he has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire".^[3] Other works during this period include a operetta libretto, Skin Deep and his radio series Charm Offensive.

Iannucci's latest television project is the HBO political satire Veep. In March 2012 it was announced that he is working on his first novel, Tongue International, described as 'a satirical fantasy about a privatised language'.^[4]

Early life[link]

Iannucci's father, also called Armando, is from Naples, Italy, and his mother is from Glasgow, Scotland, where Iannucci was born. His father, who came to Scotland in 1950, ran a pizza factory. Armando has two brothers and a sister. Iannucci was educated at St Peter's Primary School, St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow, the University of Glasgow^[5] and University College, Oxford, where he read English literature gaining an MA in 1986. In his teens he thought seriously about becoming a Roman Catholic priest. He abandoned graduate work on 17th-century religious language with particular reference to Milton's Paradise Lost, to pursue his career in comedy.

Career[link]

1990s[link]

After making several programmes at BBC Scotland in the early 1990s such as No' The Archie McPherson Show, he moved to BBC Radio in London, making radio shows including Armando Iannucci for BBC Radio 1, which featured a number of comedians he was to collaborate with for many years, including David Schneider, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Front.

Iannucci first received widespread fame as the producer for On the Hour on Radio 4, which soon transferred to television as The Day Today. He received critical acclaim for both his own talents as a writer and a producer, and for first bringing together such comics as Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Peter Baynham and Steve Coogan. The members of this group went on to work on separate projects and create a new comedy "wave" pre-New Labour: Morris went on to create Brass Eye, Blue Jam and the Chris Morris Music Show; Stewart Lee and Richard Herring created Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy.

Baynham was closely involved with both Morris's and Lee & Herring's work — simultaneously at one point. Lee would go on to co-write the controversial Jerry Springer — The Opera, but perhaps the most famous "alumnus" of this group is Steve Coogan's character Alan Partridge, who first appeared in On the Hour, and has featured in multiple spin-off series. Between 1995 and 1999, Iannucci produced and hosted The Saturday Night Armistice.

2000s[link]

In 2000, he created two pilot episodes for Channel 4, which became The Armando Iannucci Shows. This was an eight-part series for Channel 4 broadcast in 2001, written with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil. The series consisted of Iannucci pondering pseudo-philosophical and jocular ideas and fantasies inbetween surreal sketches. Iannucci has been quoted as saying it is the comedy series he is most proud of making. He told The Metro in April 2007 "The Armando Iannucci Show [sic] on Channel 4 came out around 9/11, so it was overlooked for good reasons. People had other things on their minds. But that was the closest to me expressing my comic outlook on life."^[6]

After championing Yes Minister on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom, Iannucci devised, directed and was chief writer of The Thick of It, a political satire-cum-farce for BBC Four. It starred Chris Langham as an incompetent cabinet minister being manipulated by a cynical Press Officer, played by Peter Capaldi and based on Tony Blair's former Press Secretary Alastair Campbell. The series was broadcast in two-parts in 2005 before an expanded cast starred in two specials and a "third" series.

Based on a format he had used in Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt in 1996 and 2004: The Stupid Version, in mid-2006, his spoof documentary series Time Trumpet was shown on BBC 2. The series looked back on past events through highly edited clips and "celebrity" interviews, looking back on the present and near-future from the year 2031. One episode, featuring fictional terrorist attacks on London and the assassination of Tony Blair, was postponed and edited in August 2006 amid the terrorism scares in British airports at that time. Jane Thynne, writing in The Independent, accused the BBC of lacking backbone.^[7]

Other work[link]

Despite his involvement in many facets of British comedy as a producer, writer and performer, Iannucci has remained relatively unknown amongst the British public. His non-television projects include Smokehammer, a web-based project with Chris Morris, a book in 1997 entitled Facts and Fancies, compiling some articles from his newspaper columns, which was turned into a BBC Radio 4 series. A little-known radio series called Scraps With Iannucci followed late in 1998, in which Iannucci used his tape-fiddling skills to present a review of the year.

He has appeared on Radio 3 talking about classical music, one of his passions and collaborated with composer David Sawer on Skin Deep, an operetta, which was premiered by Opera North on 16 January 2009. He has also presented three programmes for BBC Radio 3, including Mobiles Off!, a 20-minute segment on classical concert-going etiquette.

He directed a series of Post Office television adverts, featuring the actors John Henshaw, Rory Jennings and Di Botcher alongside guest stars such as Joan Collins, Bill Oddie and Westlife.^[8]

Film directing[link]

In January 2009, his first feature film In the Loop, in the style of The Thick of It, was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was the first cinema film to be directed by Iannucci, after his contribution to Tube Tales in 1999. The film has been applauded by critics, both in Britain and the US,^[9] and was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2009.^[10] The film secured the eighth highest placing in the UK box office in its opening week – despite its relatively insignificant screening numbers. According to the British Film Institute screenonline, Iannucci had previously failed to secure funding for a historical comedy film in 2003.^[2]

Iannucci used his BBC press pass to enter the US State Department headquarters whilst researching the film, saying how he just turned up and claimed to be "here for the 12.30". Iannucci spent an hour inside taking photographs which were used for the film's set designs.^[11]

Recognition[link]

Iannucci has won two Sony Radio Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.^[12] He was also subject of a 2006 edition of The South Bank Show.

In January 2006 he took the post of News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at the University of Oxford,^[13] where he has delivered a series of four lectures under the title "British Comedy — Dead Or Alive?".

In June 2011, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Glasgow to recognise his contribution to film and television.

At the 2011 British Comedy Awards, Iannucci received the Writers' Guild of Britain Award.^[14]

Personal life and politics[link]

In 1990, he married Rachael Jones, whom he met when she designed the lighting for his one-man show at Oxford. They have two sons and one daughter and currently live in Buckinghamshire.^[15]

He is patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity supporting women through difficult pregnancies. In April 2012 he abseiled from the top of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to raise money for the unit.^[16]

In the 2010 general election he supported the Liberal Democrats, stating: "I'll be voting Lib Dem this election because they represent the best chance in a lifetime to make lasting and fair change to how the UK is governed."^[17] Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition of 2010 was established, however, he has expressed doubts over his continued support for the party, saying he is 'wavering' on many issues and has admitted to 'queasiness' over the Coalition's economic measures. He has expressed an interest in targeting the Liberal Democrats in the next series of The Thick Of It, just as the first three targeted what he perceived as the failings within the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.^[18]

Iannucci describes Woody Allen as his "all-time comedy hero".^[19]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

• The Day Today (BBC 2 — creator, co-writer, producer plus occasional appearances. The Day Today was the TV adaptation of On The Hour)
• The Saturday Night Armistice (writer, producer, presenter etc. - later The Friday Night Armistice)
• Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, co-creator)
• I'm Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, director)
• The Armando Iannucci Shows (writer, performer, director)
• Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt (writer, director)
• Gash (writer, presenter)
• Have I Got News For You, four times as a panelist on 23 April 2004, 4 May 2007, 20 May 2010 and 27 May 2011.
• The Thick of It (writer, director)
• 2004: The Stupid Version (Presenter, co-writer, director)
• Time Trumpet (writer, presenter, director)
• Comics Britannia (narrator)
• Paradise Lost (presenter and writer)
• Lab Rats (executive producer)
• Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (executive producer, plus appears in "Comedy Extra" segments on red button)
• Channel 4's 2010 Alternative Election (guest)
• Veep (writer, director, producer)^[20]
• Armando Iannucci on Dickens (writer, presenter)^[21][22]

Radio[link]

• On the Hour (BBC Radio 4 — creator, co-writer, producer)
• No' The Archie McPherson Show (BBC Radio Scotland — presenter, writer, producer)
• Armando Iannucci (BBC Radio 1 — writer, presenter, producer)
• The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4 — producer, also appeared as guest)
• Quote... Unquote (BBC Radio 4 — producer)
• Loose Talk (producer)
• The Mary Whitehouse Experience (producer)
• The 99p Challenge on BBC Radio 4.
• Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive on BBC Radio 4
• Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World as various characters.
• Desert Island Discs - BBC Radio 4 as a guest. Armando reveals how as a youngster he rebelled against his parents' "Classical Music listening ways" by playing Wagner.
• Scraps With Iannucci a BBC Radio 4 series from 1998.
• Week Ending (BBC Radio 4 — producer)
• The Unbelievable Truth (BBC Radio 4- guest)

Film[link]

• Tube Tales - "Mouth" (1999)
• In the Loop (2009)

Bibliography[link]

Print[link]

• Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber (Michael Joseph, 2003) ISBN 0-7181-4678-6
• Facts and Fancies (Michael Joseph, 1997) ISBN 0-7181-3951-8
• Weekly newspaper column in The Observer
• The Audacity of Hype: Bewilderment, Sleaze and Other Tales of the 21st Century (Little Brown, 2009) ISBN 978-1-4087-0197-3

Audiobooks[link]

• Facts and Fancies (BBC Audiobooks, 1998) ISBN 0-563-55756-7
• I'm Alan Partridge: Knowing Me, Knowing Yule (BBC Audiobooks, 1998) ISBN 0-563-55763-X
• Knowing Me, Knowing You...: With Alan Partridge: Complete Series (BBC Audiobooks, 1995) CD ISBN 0-563-38896-X, cassette ISBN 0-563-38891-9

References[link]

External links[link]

• Armando Iannucci on Twitter
• Profile at the BBC
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Armando Iannucci on Charlie Rose
• Armando Iannucci at the Internet Movie Database
• Armando Iannucci biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Armando Iannucci collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Works by or about Armando Iannucci in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Armando Iannucci at the Notable Names Database
• Armando Iannucci Interview, New Statesman, March 2010
• Armando Iannucci interview, LeftLion Magazine