ISSUE OF ELECTION

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 127, 3 June 1929, Page 10

ISSUE OF ELECTION

POLITICAL DEADLOCK

BALDWIN TO MOVE

TWO COURSES OPEN

British Official Wireless. ' (Received 3rd June, 2 p.m.) RUGBY, 2nd June. About nine results of the election have now to be declared. The situation created by the election will not be materially affected by these,. The declared seats and strength of parties at present is:—Labour 287, Conservative 254, Liberals 57, others 8. The fact that no party has a clear majority creates an interesting situation. The first step in its development rests with Mr. Baldwin. Two courses apparently are open to the Prime- Minister, who is considering the situation during the week-end at Chequers, his official country house, preparatory to meeting his colleagues next week. He may reconstruct his Cabinet and proceed to meet Parliament when it assembles oa 25th June, or he may forthwith resign. MUCH SPECULATION. There is much speculation as to ■which course will be followed. On the one hand, it is argued that Parliament should decide whether a change of Government is*desired and that the result of the election does not entitle Mr. Baldwin in effect to hand over the Government to Labour, which is also m a minority. On the other hand, it is contended By some that the decision of the electorate should be accepted and that the Labour Party should be given an opportunity of presenting the King's Speech with which Parliament will be opened. Those holding this view declare that the 1923 precedent is not entirely applicable to the present situation, inasmuch as on that occasion the Conservative Party was still the largest ip state and the course of awaiting defeat in the House of Commons on a Labour no-confidence vote was then the obvious one to take. ' Sir Austen Chamberlain, in, a speech, at Birmingham last night, said that it was for the Prime Minister, after taking such advice as he thought proper, to decide his course of action, but he hoped that Mr. Baldwin would face the. House of Commons and leave to Mr. Lloyd George and the Liberal Party the responsibility for the situation which they had created. The "DailyTelegraph" and the "Daily Mail" definitely state that the Prime "Minister will take this course. He will, it is said, reconstruct his Ministry and present himself before the new House of Commons with a programme of work to be accomplished during the brief session before the summer recess early in, August and await action by the Opposition parties. THE KING'S ILLNESS. The "Morning Post" says: "The Government's position is unfortunately complicated by the illness of the King. There is no other consideration to tempt Mr. Baldwin to remain in office a moment louger than is indispensable to the preliminaries of the change." The "Manchester Guardian" urges that the handling during the next few weeks of important constitutional questions should be approached with care and deliberation. It considers that it would be a misfortune if Mr. Baldwin were immediately to resign, and points out that if he decides to carry on until defeated in Parliament, there will be a whole month in which to cultivate the temper of the House and to explore the field of possible compromise. The "Daily Herald," on the other hand, demands that Mr. Baldwin should ■at once resign so that the leader of the largest party in Parliament may tako up his part. .-Meanwhile the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Parties are considering their position. Commenting on the immediate results of the polling, most newspapers express surprise at the proportions of the Labour vote. The "Times" says: "Some of the general advance of that party may .be due, no doubt, to the studied moderation of the programme put forward by its leaders, and the return in particular' of Mr. Ben Turner, who has shown considerable courage in, ■his protagonism of industrial peace, ia a welcome sign of the times. It is a. confirmation of this inference that the only retiring Communist member was heavily defeated and that Communist candidates polled in . every case tha merest handful of votes." _ The "Daily Chronicle," after admitting that Labour's, advance cannot ba gainsaid, says that the one thing that emerges clearly is the need for electoral reform if a system of three parties is to be worked without injustice at the polls. The Liberals, with over five million votes, are once more grossly under-represented, while of the other parties the Conservatives come first ia votes and second in seats. ■ On all hands, it is agreed that the first experience of adult franchise has not been disappointing—the votes cast having apparently averaged nearly 80 per cent, of the total electorate. „