The upward spike proved temporary. Voters agreed with much of Clegg's thrust but it ultimately came down to the vital center that decides elections opting for change and banking on Cameron to supply the kind sought as the Lib Dem total slipped in the campaign's final stages.
The irony is that after losing 5 seats compared to the 2005 election and garnering a 23 percent popular vote that was below expectations based on earlier campaign calculations, Nick Clegg's party sat in the catbird seat with the ability to determine the election's outcome.
After negotiations commenced between the Tories and Lib Dems, Gordon Brown announced he would step down so a new Labour leader could be installed.
Some in Labour's ranks asserted that if a new leader could be quickly installed that what they termed the nation's progressive voting majority, meaning their party combined with the Lib Dems, could form a coalition.
Another view surfaced within Labour. It was seen as suicidal to seek leadership continuity from an electoral voting base of 29 percent. Accordingly, it would be more prudent to operate from a vigilant opposition posture, gaining acceptance under a new leader.
Under the new coalition arrangement Cameron operates as prime minister with Clegg as his deputy. During World War Two, at a time when there was a mutual understanding between the Conservatives and Labour, Winston Churchill served as prime minister. Labour's leader, Clement Attlee, the man who would ultimately unseat Churchill in 1945, served as deputy prime minister.
The earlier instance was a wartime contingency with the nation under continuing aerial bombardment from Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. The latter case was the result of negotiation and the need to put a government in place.
With Cameron securing power with a 36.1 electoral voting base, and allied with a party and spokesperson who had argued that he and his party represented the old politics, some political analysts believe that another election could loom on the near horizon.
One of the issues that the new coalition has discussed is to set fixed five year election cycles. An election could be held during an intervening period, however, by a vote of 55 percent or more members of Parliament.
Another issue near and dear to the hearts of the Liberal Democrats will also receive attention, that of proportional representation, which would enable Britain's third leading party in terms of representation a much better chance in elections.
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