Conservative leader David Cameron today moved ahead with efforts to stake his claim to form a coalition government in Britain by roping in the Liberal Democrats even as defeated Labour prime minister Gordon Brown attempted to dig his heels in for another term.
The Conservative Party of 43-year-old Cameron won the most seats in the May 6 elections but did not take enough to get a majority.
But armed with the largest number of seats (306) and the largest voting percentage (36), Cameron moved quickly to seek the support of 'kingmaker' and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, whose party finished third with 57 seats.
Intense negotiations were on between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to form a Conservative-led government, with Cameron and Clegg holding discussions late in the evening.
The negotiation began after Cameron, encouraged by Clegg's statement that his party would ideally offer support to the single largest party, made a "big, open and comprehensive offer" on policies in exchange for support.
As the hung poll verdict sent jitters through the financial markets, Cameron said he was keen to move quickly to form a strong and stable government.
The new formation, however, is unlikely to be in place before Monday.
The Labour Party, meanwhile, saw its tally slump to 258 in the House of Commons, which has 650 seats, with 649 results declared. A total of 326 seats are required for a clear majority.
Brown, however, was yet to concede defeat and indicated that he was open to talk to Clegg in case the negotiations between the Lib Dems and the Tories failed.
The election appears to have ended Labour's record run in 10, Downing Street, since 1997 and have thrown up a hung parliament for the first time since 1974.
Clegg emerged as the kingmaker even though his early promise of upsetting the two-party system dominated by Labour and the Conservatives failed to materialise.
His appearance on television debates catapulted him to the frontline, but his growing popularity failed to translate into seats and votes for his party.
But given policy differences between the two parties, negotiations are likely to be protracted before an understanding can be reached over the weekend.
Clegg earlier said the party that had gained the most seats and the most votes — the Conservatives — should have "the first right to seek to govern".
The election witnessed history being created when two women of Indian origin — Priti Patel (Conservative) and Valerie Vaz, sister of Labour MP Keith Vaz — won the polls. They will be the first Asian woman MPs in the House.
