I've been puzzling away at the question of why Gordon Brown didn't simply resign on Friday morning when it was clear he'd been comprehensively defeated in the general election. And the conclusion I've come to is that it was an error of judgment.
Some people will think this question betrays an ignorance of the British constitution. They will protest that the Prime Minister had a duty to remain in office until it was clear the Leader of the Opposition could form a government – and on Friday morning that was far from clear. But was it? If Brown had gone immediately, Cameron would have been summoned by the Queen and, in all likelihood, been forced to form a minority government. Brown himself claimed he was constitutionally obliged to hang around until such time as David Cameron had concluded talks with Nick Clegg to see whether they could form a coalition government – but if that was his constitutional duty then he flouted it by resigning on Tuesday evening since negotiations between the Consevatives and the Liberal Democrats hadn't concluded at that point. (To read more, click here.)
