A group of senior MPs are calling for parliament to be convened on the first Saturday after the general election to discuss any coalition building that may take place in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the events that followed the 2010 election.
The call is being led by Labour MP Graham Allen, the chairman of the political and constitutional affairs select committee, who wants to install a process of greater scrutiny during coalition talks. He has the support of senior figures from across the parties.
Allen told the Guardian: “In 2010, we were all quite inexperienced and in effect all the dealmaking was done by a small coterie of Liberal Democrat and Conservative politicians behind closed doors, by which time manifesto promises are torn up and sworn enemies are working with one another.
“In the Labour party, we were presented with a fait accompli and the party did not meet until a deal had been struck between Nick Clegg and David Cameron.”
Allen stressed he did not think parliament was ever going to negotiate the finer details of a coalition deal, but that the process should be more democratic than at the last election. The Lib Dems led the way in 2010, Allen said, by consulting the party’s MPs, but parallel discussions did not take place in the other parties, or with parliament as a whole.
Allen said: “There is a greater chance than before that this election will end with no party holding an overall majority, and so negotiations are likely. There is every chance this time that parliament will not be asked to assemble on 20 May, nearly two weeks after the election.
“It would be far better if we were trying to show why democracy matters, in my view, if parliament was sitting during any coalition talks and a lot more of this was out in the open and transparent.”
Allen has the support of Sarah Wollaston, Conservative chairman of the health select committee, and Bernard Jenkin, Tory chairman of the public administration select committee. The motion also has the support of Ukip MP Mark Reckless, former Labour cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw, and George Galloway, the Respect MP.
Allen has asked the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, and the acting clerk of the house, David Natzler, to give evidence to his committee on Monday. Some of the evidence will simply spell out the procedures likely to be followed, including the role of the sitting prime minister.
Allen has also persuaded Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee, and John Cryer, the newly elected chair of the parliamentary Labour Party, to give evidence. Both men are expected to be asked whether they support greater democratic consultation within their parties over any coalition deal. Inside the 1922 committee there have been demands for at least proper consultation, and possibly a vote.
The motion, designed as a show of political opinion signed by the MPs, reads: “In the opinion of this house, the next parliament should be summoned to meet on Saturday 9 May, and that the house should proceed immediately to debate and confirm any proposed arrangements for the composition and programme of the new government.”
