For the first timesince World WarlI, the UK nowhas a coalitiongovernment. The elec-tion held in the UK onMay 6 failed to delivera majority for any of thethree main parties-theConservative Party, the Liberal Democratsand the mling Labor Party. After five daysof negotiations, sitting Prime MinisterGordon Brown stepped down on May 11.He was replaced by a coalition made of theright-wing Conservatives and the centralistLiberal Democrats. As these two partieshad spent much of the election campaignattacking each other, this combinationstruck many observers, even as it hap-pened, as remarkable.