保守党和自由民主党组成的联合政府被视为对英国传统议会一党多数政府形式的背离。尽管两党在理念和政策方面有一定差异,但平稳地完成了五年任期,英国经济在2014~2015年实现了较为强劲的增长。通过联合执政,保守党管理经济的能力和卡梅伦的领导能力得到了民众的一定认可;自由民主党和克莱格则因在联合执政过程中过分迁就保守党,影响力持续下降。过去两年中,工党的支持率一度和保守党不相上下,但民众仍对工党管理经济的能力和米利班德的领导能力存有疑虑,随着大选失败,工党左右翼之争加剧,陷入新的困境。而苏格兰民族党和独立党对英国政治的影响力总体来看有所加强。
<<The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition was regarded as a deviation from the British political tradition of Westminster-type Majoritarian government. Although differences existed in the coalition partners’ ideologies and policies,the Coalition completed its five-year term smoothly,and the UK has seen strong economic growth since 2014. After five years of Coalition,the Conservative Party gains economic trust and David Cameron maintains relatively high approval ratings among British voters,while the influence of the Liberal Democrats and Nick Clegg declined sharply due to their excessive compromises to the Conservatives. The Labour Party and the Conservatives remained close in polls for a time,but British voters neither trusted Labour’s economic competence nor approved Ed Miliband’s leadership. The Labour’s election failure intensified the debates between its left and right wings,which put the Party into a new predicament. Moreover,the SNP and UKIP have generally gained more influence in British politics over the past years.
<<