For six months before the general election of 2010, Andrew Stunell, Lord Stunell, who has died aged 81, was one of the Liberal Democrat MPs preparing for a possible hung parliament. When that result came about he was appointed by the party’s leader, Nick Clegg, to its team negotiating for a coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives, together with David Laws, Danny Alexander and Chris Huhne.
His approach was coloured by the 1977-78 Lib-Lab pact that sustained James Callaghan’s Labour government, when he felt that the Liberals misplayed their hand and failed to achieve benefits for the party. On the Sunday after the 2010 polling day, after two days of almost incessant discussion and debate, Stunell cautioned his colleagues against rushing the negotiations, with the “real, real difficulties in legitimising Labour after they have lost so badly”.
