London, May 10 (Inditop.com) Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who holds the key to who would be the next resident of 10 Downing Street, seems to be inching towards a deal with the Conservatives but increased pressure on the Tories by having a meeting with Labour leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will hold yet another round of talks Monday after key negotiators from both side spent nearly six hours at the Cabinet Office Sunday in an effort to reach an agreement, The Times reported Monday.
The political parties needed to reach the magic mark of 326 to have a clear majority in the 650 seat parliament. The Friday election result showed that the Conservatives bagged 306 seats while Labour netted 258 seats. Liberal Democrats got 57 seats. Election was postponed in one constituency following the death of a candidate during campaigning.
The deal, which was short of complete coalition but with agreement on a broad range of legislation, was within reach, Tory sources indicated.
However, Liberal Democrats called it “optimistic”.
“It’s more important to get this right than to be hasty. But we need to reach a deal before the public turns against the process,” a source was quoted as saying.
Clegg had held discussion with Brown for 70 minutes in the Foreign Office Sunday afternoon.
Brown reportedly offered the Liberal Democrats a full referendum on proportional representation. After meeting Brown, Clegg interacted with Cameron on “neutral territory” in Portcullis House, the MPs’ office block.
