The Times saw evidence today suggesting that the Liberal Democrats and the Libertarian Party are prepared to enter opposition together while supporting a minority Conservative Party government through a confidence and supply arrangement.

After the so-called Clegg Coalition lost a motion of no confidence yesterday, constitutional safeguards mean that while either the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives may form a new Government, they cannot form a Government together save for the presence of two other parties; a scenario which is unlikely.

However, the Liberal Democrats appear prepared to support their former coalition partners from the opposition benches, and furthermore they seem prepared to do so with the backing of the Libertarian Party.

The reasons for the Libertarian Party’s apparent volte face - having been one of the movers of this week’s motion of no confidence - may be seen in ongoing talks taking place between the Labour Party, the Democratic Reformists and The People’s Movement. While the relationship between the Tories and the LPUK has, since they were last in coalition, been acrimonious, it is thought that the LPUK parliamentary party is worried about the impact a Labour-DRF-TPM coalition may have on the policies they passed in the last Parliamentary session.

Furthermore, these revelations come as The Times also heard that one of the conditions of the LPUK’s supporting a minority Conservative government is the removal from office of the Foreign Secretary and current Conservative Party leadership candidate, /u/model-willem, whose actions in Government provided one of the main pretexts for the motion of no confidence. This is possibly how the Libertarian Party will explain to their membership how they will end up in the position to support a party they only a week before wanted removed from Government.

An additional concern is the Parliamentary arithmetic. The Times understands that Labour-DRF-TPM talks are at an advanced stage and together they would form a coalition larger than the Conservatives’ 34 seats, which means they would take the Government if no other coalition forms. However, should these talks reach a positive outcome for the left-wing coalition, it remains to be seen whether or not the Libertarian Party and the Conservative Party - who together make up 49 of the 100 seats in Parliament - would be prepared to work together again to ensure /u/ARichTeaBiscuit does not take the Premiership.

Another unknown is whether or not TPM would be prepared to enter Government at all - perhaps preferring the smaller burden of a confidence and supply agreement - after contradictory statements by senior members of the parliamentary party were seen by the Times.

With the Liberal Democrats having apparently spurned last week’s offer from the Labour Party to form a coalition, Parliament looks to have formed into two distinct blocs. Whoever ends up with the keys to No. 10 must be prepared to hold their nose, because, whatever the outcome, they will need substantial and perhaps not wholly enthusiastic support from outside their own party.