Saturday 24th July

The time is 18 minutes to midnight on Saturday 24th July.

This week at Prime Minister's Questions, Nick Clegg made a reference to the legality of the Iraq war.  This article will explain why it has moved the clock towards midnight by 30 seconds.  The Speaker of the House is now considering this to be Government policy.

David Davis referred to the coalition yesterday as a "Brokeback Coalition."  Davis is amongst senior Conservatives who once resigned his seat to fight for it on civil liberties.  It would be assumed on this basis that Davis may favour the coalition somewhat.  However, he is otherwise a social conservative and an economic Thatcherite, which may explain some distaste for the coalition.  The fact that there are many in the Conservative right that hold this distaste, and it was a statement overheard by somebody in a pub - and the press are looking for any distaste for the coalition - this has only moved the clock by 30 seconds.  In addition, Jerry Hayes (an ex Tory MP) puts why this will not necessarily affect the coalition in a very comical manner on his blog at ThinkPolitics.

Moving on, the Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron made several statements in public insinuating that the 'Cameron brand' was 'toxic', alongside many Tory MPs being toxic.  He stated that the Conservatives were using their party to 'detoxify' their brand.  Farron suggested that the Conservative Party has not changed.  Having listened to the entire interview - alongside the fact that these are blatant public remarks - this has moved the clock towards midnight by 1 minute.  The remarks will upset some in the Parliamentary Conservative Party and would suggest that there are some in the Liberal Democrats who are angered by Nick Clegg's decision or what they view - rightly or wrongly - to surrender on policy.  To clarify as to why this has moved the clock by one minute whilst Davis' remarks by 30 seconds, we have to bear in mind that many MPs will make these remarks in private or in a bar - as the Spectator article suggests.  Tim Farron made the remarks in a public manner to either send a warning to his grassroots or to his Party.

Opinion polls have not been taken into account as there are no significant changes or elections coming up.  When reference to the opinion polls are made by senior members of either party, these will be taken into account.

Friday 16th July

The time is 20 minutes to midnight on Friday 16th July.

Noises emanating from the Conservative backbenchers over the date of the referendum on alternative vote has shifted the clock towards midnight by 30 seconds.  This small movement is due to the fact that this referendum has yet to be voted on, and voting on it will be subject to a three line whip.

The tiny Liberal Democrat rebellion over VAT has not impacted negatively on the clock, but has in fact shifted it to counteract the noises from the Conservative backbench.

Nick Clegg met his MPs to discuss the coalition.  This has not shifted the clock on the basis that - contrary to popular press reports and even the BBC putting spin on this story, the fact that the meeting has taken place is firstly normal, and secondly a good sign that the coalition is working.  The very fact that this has occurred is good news for the coalition.

Rumours that there will be a snap election to drop the Liberal Democrats are unfounded and have emanated from the misquoted words of Tim Montgomerie.  The reason that this is known is that several assurances by senior Conservatives and backbench Conservative MPs that this will not happen.  The Coalition deal was signed for five years.

Why polls are not counted at this stage
Despite the fact that YouGov is showing that the Conservatives would win an overall majority, we have taken into account the fact that most people will not be taking polling seriously.  Additionally, there is no money left in any party's budget to fight another election.

The YouGov dip in the polls for the Liberal Democrats has also not changed the clock on the reasons listed above.  It has also not made any difference to the clock because if the coalition were to be brought down and an election were called, the Liberal Democrats would be wiped out.  This will be known by senior Lib Dems.  On the same basis, no other changes have happened to bring the clock closer to midnight since Nick Clegg's announcement that there will be a 2/3 dissolution rule, further cementing the coalition.

Saturday 3rd July

The time is 20 minutes to midnight on Saturday 3rd July.


The announcement of the cuts in prison sentences with more community sentences has provided a pacifier for Liberal Democrat MPs who were being attacked by Labour for allegedly being 'lapdogs' in the Commons.  This would have lowered the clock should 20 minutes to midnight not be at its default position by 30 seconds.  However, the clock has been moved 30 seconds toward midnight by the fact that this is upsetting the Conservative right.

The announcement of the referendum of the Alternative Vote system being next year would have also shaved 30 seconds off the time, but it has been announced that the Conservatives will campaign against voting reform under the leadership of David Cameron, meaning that the Liberal Democrats may fail to get this through.  However, as Iain Dale suggests, this may not rock the boat should the referendum return a 'No' vote.  As this is speculation at this point it has not changed the clock position but has been taken into account.

The latest opinion poll from YouGov, which suggests a large dip in support for the Liberal Democrats has not altered the clock, since there have been no significant reactions to said poll in any grassroots or Parliamentary capacity.

Wednesday 30th June

The time is 20 minutes to midnight on Wednesday 30th June.

The way this time has been calculated is based on a number of factors.  This includes the VAT rise which would have rumbled some left-wing Liberal Democrats.  The reason it is not at 19 to midnight is that the two rebels - namely Mike Hancock and Bob Russell - are backbench MPs in the coalition.  We also anticipate that these individuals campaigned personally against a VAT rise and so are accountable to their constituents.  Nonetheless, as there was not complete compliance it has affected the clock by half a minute.

There has also been unrest within the grassroots of both parties, alongside statements being made by James Forsyth, seen here.  Whilst we disagree with their relevance somewhat, it suggests that those with influence are piling on the pressure on David Cameron to become more right-wing.  This has affected the clock by a further half a minute, as there are many more sites sourcing this - including Conservative Home.

Today, we have noticed that the Liberal Democrats have received a concession on their prison policy.  This has affected the clock positively by one minute, as it will be calming some Liberal Democrats who were being affected by Labour's attacks on them 'selling out'.

Therefore, the clock is at its default position as the three above points have cancelled the others out.

We have deliberately not included any opinion polls as we do not believe that their loaded questions are of relevance.

Welcome to the Coalition Doomsday Clock

The coalition parties are currently married into Government.  Labour are attempting to rock the boat of the coalition by predominantly attacking the Liberal Democrats in the hope that they will bring down the coalition.

We realise that this might be a potential problem.  We also realise that - from time to time - there will be disagreements in policy despite the Programme for Government.

We therefore decided that a standing 'state of the coalition' would be a good idea to implement.  After much deciding with regards to what would be the best way, we thought that a quick-to-read style in a busy culture such as Britain would be a "Minutes to Midnight" style - in the form of the nuclear war Doomsday Clock famous during the Cold War era.

By using non-scaremongering newspapers, opinion polls (that are judged over a week), grassroots 'feeling', (hopefully) insider Westminster knowledge and reputable blog posts, we will judge the minutes to midnight.

The clock will never be at a time before 20 to midnight.  This is because of the nature of this coalition - it is unstable by its very nature because this is a relatively new thing in politics.

Being the first post, this serves as more of an introduction to the concept.  We hope that you find it informative and it serves its purpose well.