There are rumblings of discontent on the Right of the Conservative party already.
Bitter about being overlooked for Government jobs in favour of Liberals and still in denial about the fact that the Tories didn't get a majority, many Tory MPs are expressing misgivings about the coalition with the Lib Dems before it's even got to work.
It seems a bit early to write the coalition off. The electorate delivered a balanced parliament, for good or for ill, and I think David Cameron stitched together a workable solution, the best option available. Now we have a Government with a stable majority with deficit reduction at the heart of its programme.
Rocking the boat now because of inter-party emnity is, frankly, putting party-political interests above the national interest. Obviously it's legitimate to criticise Government policy; if anything, there wasn't enough dissent during the last 13 years.
But if the economy is the burning issue, then Tories should be happy as on this front they've got their way in most areas. The business community has broadly welcomed the coalition and yearns, more than anything, for a stable Government that will tackle the deficit and ease the regulatory burden. The way some Conservatives are talking, they'd like nothing more than for the coalition to collapse and another election to be called, thus creating another period of uncertainty.
The Conservatives got their way in most policy areas - which is only right, seeing as they polled much more highly than the Lib Dems. In what way did the public not vote for this?
Richard Drax, new Tory MP for South Dorset, was still unable to move on from the election results: "This is not what the public voted for – the Lib Dems lost seats. Why we're in this position, in my view, is because the public is fed up with all of us. They have now got a hung parliament, which I don't think most people wanted."
Drax still seems indignant that that the electorate didn't return a Tory majority. He needs to get over it.
There was a hung parliament and a coalition was formed, an entirely legitimate outcome according to the conventions of the electoral system the Conservative Party is so keen to defend.
Yes, the Lib Dems lost seats, but they still won almost a quarter of the votes. A compromise was formed between the parties voted for by 60% of the electorate (three quarters of the other 40% voted Labour, which is locked out of the political settlement, so you'd think he'd be happy).
The Conservatives got their way in most policy areas - which is only right, seeing as they polled much more highly than the Lib Dems. In what way did the public not vote for this?
He said that most people didn't want a hung parliament. Maybe, maybe not. What is a fact is that only just over a third of people wanted a Tory Government; just under a third wanted a Labour administration. So they didn't want a Tory majority either.
As for leftwing Liberals, they also need to hold their nose for the sake of the country. As supporters of proportional representation, they have a huge vested interest in making this work, thus proving to the electorate that coalitions don't equal indecisive Government.
