To better understand some of the possibilities for the new British Parliament’s dynamics and tensions going forward, if you’re familiar with Canadian politics here’s a rough analogy given the new seat totals in Britain:

Conservatives = Conservatives

Labour = Liberal

Liberal Democratic Party = New Democratic Party

Scottish, Welsh, and Irish nationalist parties = Bloc Québécois (the Québec nationalist party)

It’s not exact, but if you’re familiar with Canadian federal politics for the last 3 years, it might be of use in understanding what to expect in the U.K. for the next while.

To extend the analogy:

Gordon Brown (incumbent, unpopular Prime Minister leading exhausted party mired in financial scandal, used to be Chancellor of the Exchequer) = Paul Martin (incumbent, unpopular Prime Minister leading exhausted party mired in financial scandal, used to be Minister of Finance)

Tony Blair (long-running, very successful Prime Minister, who finally allows Gordon Brown to become Prime Minister) = Jean Chrétien (long-running, very successful Prime Minister, who finally allows Paul Martin to become Prime Minister)

David Cameron (transformed Conservative party and brought them back into power, albeit in a minority government) = Stephen Harper (transformed Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative -> Conservative party and brought them back into power, albeit in a minority government)

Nick Clegg (charismatic, seemed on verge of electoral breakthrough in last election but First-Past-the-Post electoral system stops him) = Jack Layton (charismatic, seemed on verge of electoral breakthrough in last election but First-Past-the-Post electoral system stops him)