Is the British Election a Lose-lose for the U.S.?

The Editorial Board – The Washington Post

The most competitive and complex British election in decades on Thursday may lead to weeks or months of uncertainty about the country’s leadership, with both the incumbent Conservative and opposition Labor parties scrambling to assemble coalitions. For the United States, however, the overarching result is already clear: A stalwart U.S. ally is growing weaker, more inwardly focused and less willing or able to join in common endeavors …

In 2013, Mr. Cameron was rebuffed when he sought parliament’s approval to join the United States in airstrikes against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Since then his government has been a virtual spectator in the Ukraine crisis and played only a minor role in the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State. Challenger Ed Miliband of the Labor Party has criticized this abdication, calling it “pessimistic isolationism.” …

It can be expected that Mr. Obama’s successor, whether Democrat or Republican, will take office with the intention of reviving traditional U.S. leadership and alliances. But under either Mr. Cameron or Mr. Miliband, the U.S. partnership with Britain may prove hard to resuscitate.

Britain’s Election: A Muddle Across the Pond

The Editorial Board – The Los Angeles Times

Americans exasperated by the gridlock in Washington sometimes look enviously at Britain, where the parliamentary system combines executive and legislative duties and the prime minister almost always gets his or her way …

But as citizens in the United Kingdom go to the polls Thursday, it looks as if the result will not be consistency and clarity but a split vote that may result in some odd and unstable alliances — and perhaps another election in the near future. If pollsters are to be believed, neither Prime Minister David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, nor Labor Party leader Ed Miliband will amass a majority in the 650-member House of Commons …

Even if the election results in a stable coalition like the one that has governed Britain for the last five years, there will be disputes and compromises within the new government, just as there are in the U.S. On both sides of the Atlantic, and despite quite different political arrangements, politics is often the art of compromise.

(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Britain’s Strange Election

Roger Cohen – The New York Times

This is a curious election for anyone who cares about Britain. If David Cameron, the Conservative prime minister, is returned to office, the country will face a referendum in 2017 that could take the United Kingdom out of the European Union and into strategic irrelevance.

If Ed Miliband, the Labour Party leader, becomes prime minister, he will have in some form to rely on the support of the surging Scottish National Party (S.N.P.), which wants to break up Britain …

Pay your money and take your pick: a Britain outside Europe or a rump Britain. Of course, it’s not that simple. Cameron could prevail in his muddled attempt to keep the country in Europe while “repatriating” greater, as yet unspecified powers from Brussels. He may control the malign little-England genie he’s let out of the bottle to appease the right of his Tory party. Miliband may be able to make use of the S.N.P. without becoming its hostage. The worst is not inevitable.

Still, these unhappy choices point to an uneasy and divided Britain.

Let David Cameron Finish the Job

Michael Bloomberg – Bloomberg View

On May 7, British voters will go to the polls to elect a new government. I rarely endorse national candidates; the last time I did was in 2012, when I expressed my support for Barack Obama. But my longstanding business, civic and philanthropic ties to London, and my concern for the future of the U.K. economy and its importance to world markets, now lead me to make an exception.

Over the past five years, David Cameron’s gutsy decisions and strong leadership have helped the U.K. economy emerge from the global recession in far better shape than the rest of Europe. Now is no time to turn back …

From my frequent visits to the U.K., where my company employs more than 3,000 people and is building a new European headquarters, I know firsthand where the country was before David Cameron came to office, and where it is now.