Now it's all over...

Some observations of the past five days now that we seem to be on the way to having a government again:

• Labour's desperate attempt to cling to power was utterly appalling, undemocratic and completely reprehensible. I praise the few Labour MPs who broke ranks and pointed out that their party had lost the election, but at the same time hope that the party as a whole is punished severally by the electorate for their attempts to turn their clear defeat into an excuse to stay in power. The sight and sound of numerous Labour supporters demanding that their party stay in power despite the electoral defeat made me despair more than ever of the stupidity of those who make up that party, and helped me to understand just why their leaders are so jarringly crass. No party deserves to be in power in perpetuity, particularly not a party in democracy that has just lost an election. Labour lost with no grace whatsoever, and in such a way that was painful and disgusting to watch.

• The Liberal Democrats made the best of a near impossible choice. Whatever happens now, Clegg can be sure that he will lose support from some sectors of his party and from some parts of the electorate. But there was no way in which he could have avoided this, regardless of the choice he made. At least this way he can defend his choice as a fair one, since he backed the party with the greatest support from the electorate, and is also aided by the apparent refusal of the Labour party to properly engage in negotiations with him. Plus, I'd imagine Clegg is now heading for Cabinet in a relatively stable government - something he would never have achieved without joining forces with the Tories.

• The Tories actually behaved well here. They opened up negotiations with the Lib Dems, and appeared to conduct them in a constructive manner. They focussed on coming up with a stable government, rather than scoring points off Labour. They appeared both as a party hungry for power but willing to compromise for power. Crucially, they also came across as if they had the nation's best interest at heart. No doubt time will change this perception, but for now I think Cameron and his colleagues behaved with a certain dignity - something I definitely wasn't expecting.

• This country has survived five days with no meaningful government - and with remarkably few ill effects. It has certainly cost us a lot less than what has passed for politics for the last 13 years. A government not constantly trying to pass programmes and spend money is actually no problem for the nation - the incoming coalition government should heed this as it begins to govern.

Time will tell who really won from the deal-making and politicking of the past few days; instinctively, I'd say that we have a fair outcome in that the party promising change is backing the former opposition party that did best in the election, while the outgoing government is finally surrendering what has been a desperate, and difficult to shift, grip on power.