Hung parliament: the key questions  What happens if the Tories
and the Liberals agree a coalition? What happens if they can't?
Why is parliament hung?  No single party won a majority of seats
in the election. Without a majority, no party can pass laws
without help from other parties.  But didn't the Conservatives
win?  They got the highest number of votes and the most seats,
but not enough to form a majority. They are the biggest party,
but can't form a government.  But neither can Labour, so why is
Gordon Brown still prime minister?  The election was for a new
parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the Queen. She
generally asks the party leader who can form a majority in
parliament to do the job, and until it is clear who that person
is, Brown remains PM.  So the Queen could just sack him and ask
Cameron to have a go?  She could try, but it would trigger a
constitutional crisis. In anticipation of this happening,
guidelines were drawn up in Whitehall that acknowledge very
clearly the precedent that