Editing Lib–Lab pact (section)

===Possible coalition after 2015 general election===
[[Nick Clegg]] stated his opinion prior to the 2010 general election that the party which wins the most seats but fails to get an absolute majority in the house has the right to attempt to form a government first, either on their own or in a coalition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8614630.stm |title=Clegg does not rule out Lib Dems joining any coalition |publisher=BBC News |date=13 April 2010}}</ref> He stated his willingness to work with the Labour Party if it won a plurality of the votes in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nick-clegg/9419460/Nick-Clegg-I-would-form-coalition-with-Labour-after-election.html |title=Clegg would form coalition with Labour after election|location=London |work=The Telegraph |first=Tim |last=Ross |date=23 July 2012}}</ref> However, some reports said it was unlikely that this would happen under the leadership of Nick Clegg, as both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls voiced discontent with Nick Clegg over his partnership with David Cameron.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/depose-clegg-if-you-want-a-lib-lab-coalition-balls-tells-lib-dems-nt0rx5x5qpz |title=Depose Clegg if you want a Lib Lab coalition, Balls tells Lib Dems |location=London |work=The Times |first=Michael |last=Savage |date=10 September 2012}}</ref> Later reports indicated that Miliband and Balls were more relaxed with the thought of a Lib–Lab government after the 2015 election. According to an article in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', a shadow Cabinet minister who was close to Miliband said: "Our activists really hate Clegg. But if having him as Deputy Prime Minister was the price of getting Ed into Number 10 then they would have to stick it." For years, Miliband is said to have refused to speak to Clegg,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wintour|first1=Patrick|last2=Syal|first2=Rajeev|date=17 February 2014|title=Ed Miliband snubs Clegg's openness to Lab-Lib pact after 2015 general election|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/17/ed-miliband-labour-liberal-democrats-coalition|access-date=2020-12-27|website=The Guardian}}</ref> although relations thawed as the 2015 election grew closer. A senior party figure said, "The contact is there and the leaders' offices are now in touch." Senior members of Miliband's team, including Lord Adonis, the former Cabinet minister, had been urging him privately to prepare for fresh coalition negotiations after the 2015 general election because opinion polls suggested no party would win an outright majority in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Ross |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10776524/Ed-Miliband-would-let-Nick-Clegg-keep-his-job-in-Lib-Lab-pact.html |title=Ed Miliband would let Nick Clegg keep his job in Lib-Lab pact |date=19 April 2014 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref>

In 2014, Lib Dem minister [[Norman Lamb]] warned that "it could be enormously damaging for [the Lib Dems]" if the party went into coalition with Miliband's Labour.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mason|first=Rowena|date=5 October 2014|title=Senior Lib Dem Norman Lamb warns against coalition with Labour|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/05/senior-lib-dem-norman-lamb-warns-against-coalition-labour|access-date=27 December 2020|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> However, neither a coalition nor a pact between the Lib Dems and Labour was possible, following the Conservatives winning a majority at the 2015 general election and the loss of 49 Liberal Democrat seats. The scale of victory was unexpected by all major polls, and this was the first time a Conservative majority government had been formed in 23 years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cowling |first=David |date=17 May 2015 |title=Election 2015: How the opinion polls got it wrong |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32751993 |access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>