UK’s landmark postwar elections: When the first coalition government since WWII was formed in 2010

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — In 2010 Britain’s Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown lost the election and handed power to a coalition government led by the Conservatives’ David Cameron. The global financial crisis in 2008, which led to the deepest U.K. recession in a century, saw Labour’s popularity took a dive. Though Labour ended up with its lowest share of the vote since 1983, it held onto more seats than most pollsters predicted. Cameron’s Conservatives fell short of the number needed to govern alone. After days of frantic discussions Cameron was able to seal a deal with the centrist Liberal Democrats and its leader Nick Clegg to create the first coalition government since World War II.