Well, Kendall, in the UK we currently have first past the post for electing members of Parliament, so a <1% majority will do to elect each member, even if short of a 50% total. Likewise for votes in Parliament - 1 vote will swing it. But the tricky bit is that we are currently governed by a coalition because no party had 51% of the seats in the House of Commons. And the coalition government's programme doesn't necessarily reflect the views of party members of either party. So there are arguments about whether the Government has a mandate for the measures they are implementing.

Kitty