In Britain’s Parliament, a Majority Isn’t Always What It Seems
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What constitutes a majority in Britain’s 650-seat House of Commons? Easy: 326. Or is it? With the possibility that the next prime minister might be decided by a tight vote of confidence, small differences could matter a lot.
Opinion polls and computer modeling suggest neither Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives nor Ed Miliband’s Labour Party is likely to win even 300 seats in the new House of Commons. As the results are announced Friday morning, both sides will be calculating if they can put together a majority with the support of one or more smaller parties.