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A hung parliament is a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition has an absolute majority of (commonly known as members or seats) in a parliament or other legislature. The terms is applied to legislatures operating under the Westminster system and typically employing majoritarian electoral systems.
This situation is also known as a balanced parliament, or—for local government in the United Kingdom—a parliament under no overall control ( NOC). A hung parliament may result in a coalition government, a minority government, or a snap election if a government cannot be formed.
In multi-party systems, particularly where proportional representation is employed, it is rare for a single party to hold a majority of the seats, and likewise rare for one party to form government on its own (i.e. coalition government is the norm). Consequently, the term is generally unused in these systems, as a legislature without a single-party majority is the norm and thus every parliament is "hung".
In the Westminster system, in the absence of a clear majority, no party or coalition has an automatic constitutional entitlement to form government. This can result in the formation of a coalition government of parties which can together command a majority, or the formation of a minority government, where the ruling party receives confidence and supply from smaller parties or independent legislators. If none of these solutions prove workable, the head of state may dissolve parliament (typically on the advice of the head of government), triggering a snap election.
In Canada, the term is generally not used, as it is typical for the party that wins a plurality (but not a majority) of seats to form a minority government on its own. These situations are typically called a "minority government" or "minority parliament" by the Canadian media. The ruling party then seeks to work with other parties on a case-by-case basis.
The term "hung parliament" is most often used of parliaments dominated by two-party system. in such systems usually result in one party having an absolute majority and thus quickly forming a new government. In most parliamentary systems, a hung parliament is considered exceptional and is often seen as undesirable. In other contexts, a hung parliament may be seen as ideal – for example, if opinions among the voting public are polarised regarding one or more issues, a hung parliament may lead to the emergence of a compromise or consensus.
If a legislature is bicameral, the term "hung parliament" is usually used only with respect to the lower house.
In a multi-party system with legislators elected by proportional representation or a similar systems, it is usually exceptionally rare and difficult for any party to have an absolute majority. Thus, under such situations, every parliament is "hung" and coalition governments are normal. However, the term may be used to describe an election in which no established coalition wins an outright majority (such as the German federal election of 2005 or the 2018 Italian general election).
Hung parliaments are rare at the federal level in Australia, as a de facto two-party system, in which the Australian Labor Party competes against a permanent Liberal-National Coalition of the conservative parties, has existed with only brief interruptions since the early 20th century. Prior to 1910, no party had had a majority in the House of Representatives. As a result, there were frequent changes of government, several of which took place during parliamentary terms. Since 1910, when the two-party system was cemented, there have been three hung parliaments, the first in 1940, the second in 2010 and the third in 2018.
At the 1940 federal election, incumbent Prime Minister Robert Menzies secured the support of the two and continued to govern, but in 1941 the independents switched their support to Labor, bringing John Curtin to power.
Declining support for the major parties in recent times is leading to more non-majoritarian outcomes at elections. At the 2010 federal election, which resulted in an exact 72–72 seat tie between Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition, incumbent Prime Minister Julia Gillard secured the support of four out of six Independent and Green Party crossbenchers and continued to govern until 2013.
In the 2016 federal election the Liberal-National Coalition won 76 seats, the bare minimum required to form a majority government. The Liberal-National Coalition government lost its majority government status after a by-election in 2018, but regained its majority in 2019.
Hung parliaments are rather more common at a state level. The Tasmanian House of Assembly and the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly are both elected by Hare-Clark proportional representation, thus, elections commonly return hung parliaments. In other states and territories, candidates contest single-member seats. With far fewer seats than federal parliament, hung parliaments are more likely to be elected. Recent examples include New South Wales in 1991 and 2023, Queensland in 1998 and 2015, Victoria in 1999, South Australia in 1997 and 2002, Western Australia in 2008, the Australian Capital Territory in 2008 and 2012 and Tasmania in 2010.
In the lead up to 2025 election, polling results by the Australia Institute showed that more than twice as many Australians support a power-sharing arrangement in the next term of parliament as oppose one (41.7% vs 19.7%). An analysis of 25 power-sharing parliaments in Australia shows crossbenchers negotiate a wide range of concessions for confidence and supply. Negotiations include parliamentary and policy reforms, extra staff and resources, and presiding officer positions for crossbenchers.
Minority parliaments at either the federal and provincial level are an infrequent but not unusual occurrence in Canada. Six of the previous eight recent federal elections have resulted in hung parliaments (the 38th, the 39th, the 40th, the 43rd, the 44th, and the 45th). Following all six elections the largest party ruled as a "minority government". Although Canadian minority governments have tended to be short-lived, the two successive minorities under Prime Minister Stephen Harper managed to hold on to power from February 2006 until a no confidence vote in March 2011. The subsequent election saw a majority parliament elected with Harper's Conservative Party obtaining a 24-seat majority.
While most Canadian minority governments end in dissolution via non-confidence or a snap election call, there have been a few attempts to transition to a new government without returning to the ballot box. Most notably, the 2008 Canadian Federal Election resulted in the 2008–09 Canadian parliamentary dispute. While the Conservative Party had a plurality of seats, the Liberal Party and New Democratic Party (NDP), supported by The Bloc Québécois, agreed to defeat the Conservatives in favour of a Liberal/NDP coalition government. On 4 December 2008, Governor General Michaëlle Jean granted Prime Minister Stephen Harper request for a prorogation of Parliament on the condition that parliament reconvene early in the new year. The first session of the 40th parliament thus ended, delaying and ultimately avoiding a vote of non-confidence.
At the territorial level, a unique situation happened in the 2021 Yukon general election, in which the electoral district of Vuntut Gwitchin resulted in a tie. A judicial recount was held and the tie remained. A draw was held between the two candidates which ultimately named NDP challenger Annie Blake the winner against incumbent Liberal cabinet minister and MLA Pauline Frost. This victory ultimately resulted in a hung parliament in the Yukon legislature with the NDP holding the balance of power.
| 1st Canadian Parliament | 1867 Canadian federal election | |||
| 2nd Canadian Parliament | 1872 Canadian federal election | |||
| 3rd Canadian Parliament | 1874 Canadian federal election | |||
| 4th Canadian Parliament | 1878 Canadian federal election | |||
| 5th Canadian Parliament | 1882 Canadian federal election | |||
| 6th Canadian Parliament | 1887 Canadian federal election | |||
| 7th Canadian Parliament | 1891 Canadian federal election | |||
| 8th Canadian Parliament | 1896 Canadian federal election | |||
| 9th Canadian Parliament | 1900 Canadian federal election | |||
| 10th Canadian Parliament | 1904 Canadian federal election | |||
| 11th Canadian Parliament | 1908 Canadian federal election | |||
| 12th Canadian Parliament | 1911 Canadian federal election | |||
| 13th Canadian Parliament | 1917 Canadian federal election | |||
| 14th Canadian Parliament | 1921 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 15th Canadian Parliament | 1925 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 16th Canadian Parliament | 1926 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 17th Canadian Parliament | 1930 Canadian federal election | |||
| 18th Canadian Parliament | 1935 Canadian federal election | |||
| 19th Canadian Parliament | 1940 Canadian federal election | |||
| 20th Canadian Parliament | 1945 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 21st Canadian Parliament | 1949 Canadian federal election | |||
| 22nd Canadian Parliament | 1953 Canadian federal election | |||
| 23rd Canadian Parliament | 1957 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 24th Canadian Parliament | 1958 Canadian federal election | |||
| 25th Canadian Parliament | 1962 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 26th Canadian Parliament | 1963 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 27th Canadian Parliament | 1965 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 28th Canadian Parliament | 1968 Canadian federal election | |||
| 29th Canadian Parliament | 1972 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 30th Canadian Parliament | 1974 Canadian federal election | |||
| 31st Canadian Parliament | 1979 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 32nd Canadian Parliament | 1980 Canadian federal election | |||
| 33rd Canadian Parliament | 1984 Canadian federal election | |||
| 34th Canadian Parliament | 1988 Canadian federal election | |||
| 35th Canadian Parliament | 1993 Canadian federal election | |||
| 36th Canadian Parliament | 1997 Canadian federal election | |||
| 37th Canadian Parliament | 2000 Canadian federal election | |||
| 38th Canadian Parliament | 2004 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 39th Canadian Parliament | 2006 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 40th Canadian Parliament | 2008 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 41st Canadian Parliament | 2011 Canadian federal election | |||
| 42nd Canadian Parliament | 2015 Canadian federal election | |||
| 43rd Canadian Parliament | 2019 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 44th Canadian Parliament | 2021 Canadian federal election | None | ||
| 45th Canadian Parliament | 2025 Canadian federal election | TBD | None |
However, despite having a multi-party system in place, it has witnessed a clear majority parliament for 45 years against its transition to democratic republic being 70 years old.
It has 8 recognized national parties with influence over major parts of India and regional parties with bases in certain states.
From 1989 to 2014, India had a continuous period of parliaments producing coalition governments, with clearer majorities for the Indian National Congress and Janata Party before this period and for the Bharatiya Janata Party after it. India returned to the norm of a hung parliament in the 2024 General Elections with both BJP and INC failing to produce majority in it. The confidence of Lok Sabha, lower house of Indian Parliament elected in general elections determines the prime minister and ruling party of India.
| 1st Lok Sabha | 1951–52 Indian general election | Indian National Congress | ||
| 2nd Lok Sabha | 1957 Indian general election | Indian National Congress | ||
| 3rd Lok Sabha | 1962 Indian general election | Indian National Congress | ||
| 4th Lok Sabha | 1967 Indian general election | Indian National Congress (R) | ||
| 5th Lok Sabha | 1971 Indian general election | Indian National Congress (R) | ||
| 6th Lok Sabha | 1977 Indian general election | None | ||
| 7th Lok Sabha | 1980 Indian general election | Indian National Congress (I) | ||
| 8th Lok Sabha | 1984 Indian general election | Indian National Congress (I) | ||
| 9th Lok Sabha | 1989 Indian general election | None | ||
| 10th Lok Sabha | 1991 Indian general election | None | ||
| 11th Lok Sabha | 1996 Indian general election | None | ||
| 12th Lok Sabha | 1998 Indian general election | None | ||
| 13th Lok Sabha | 1999 Indian general election | None | ||
| 14th Lok Sabha | 2004 Indian general election | None | ||
| 15th Lok Sabha | 2009 Indian general election | None | ||
| 16th Lok Sabha | 2014 Indian general election | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 17th Lok Sabha | 2019 Indian general election | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 18th Lok Sabha | 2024 Indian general election | None |
Hung assemblies within states and alliances between national and regional parties at sub-national level are common.
The President has no direct role in the formation of governments in the case of a hung parliament. However, he retains the power to convene a meeting of either or both the Dáil and Senate which could become important if there was a government trying to use parliamentary recess to prevent confidence votes and hold onto power. The President may also refuse to dissolve Dáil Eireann and call an election if the Taoiseach loses a vote of confidence, instead giving the other parties a chance to see if they can put together a government without proceeding to another election.
In 2016, Fine Gael and Labour, who had been in government the previous five years, were unable, due to Labour's collapse, to enter government again. Fianna Fáil had enough seats to put together a rainbow government with the other centre-left, hard left parties and independents but negotiations broke down. Fianna Fáil had also promised not to enter coalition with Sinn Féin.
The press began to speculate about a Germany style "Grand Coalition" similar to the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats there. Many members of FF considered FG too right wing to enter coalition with and threatened to leave the party this came to pass. As talks continued on without a new government (the old government, constitutionally, which had just been voted out, remaining in power including ministers who had lost their seats) FF agreed to allow a government to form by abstention. The parliamentary arithmetic fell in such a way that if FF TD's abstained on confidence and supply matters, a FG minority government could, with the support of a group of independents, form a new government. This was agreed in exchange for a number of policy concessions. Once the deal with FF was signed, Taoiseach Enda Kenny conducted talks with the independents and entered government for a second term.
Both the election of January 1910, and that of December 1910 produced a hung parliament with an almost identical number of seats won by the governing Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. This was due both to the constitutional crisis and to the rise of the Labour Party. The elections of 1929 resulted in the last hung parliament for many years; in the meantime, Labour had replaced the Liberals as one of the two dominating parties.
Since the elections of 1929, three general elections have resulted in hung parliaments in the UK. The first was the election in February 1974, and the ensuing parliament lasted only until October. The second was the May 2010 election, the result of which was a hung parliament with the Conservative party as the largest single party. The results for the 3 main parties were: Conservatives 306, Labour 258, Liberal Democrats 57. "General election 2010 results of a hung parliament" , PoliticsRAW. May 08, 2010 The third one resulted from the snap election held in June 2017 that had been called for by Theresa May in order to strengthen her majority heading into Brexit negotiations later in 2017. However, this election backfired on May and her Conservative Party, resulting in a hung parliament after the snap election.
The formation of the coalition resulting from the 2010 election led to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, which instituted fixed five-year Parliaments and transferred the power to call from the Monarch on the advice of Prime Minister to Parliament itself. This was the idea of the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, then the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said that this would stop the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, from calling a snap election to end the hung parliament, as many other Conservatives had requested. This act was revoked in 2022 through the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 to return the powers of dissolution to the Monarch.
Hung parliaments can also arise when slim government majorities are eroded by by-election defeats and defection of Members of Parliament to opposition parties, as well as resignations of MPs from the House of Commons. This happened in December 1996 to the Conservative government of John Major (1990–97) and in mid-1978 to the Labour government of James Callaghan (1976–79); this latter period covers the era known as the Winter of Discontent. The minority government of Jim Callaghan came when Labour ended their 15-month Lib–Lab pact with the Liberals, having lost their majority in early 1977.
According to researchers Andrew Blick and Stuart Wilks-Heeg, the phrase "hung parliament" did not enter into common usage in the UK until the mid-1970s. It was first used in the press by journalist Simon Hoggart in The Guardian in 1974.
Academic treatments of hung parliaments include David Butler's Governing Without a Majority: Dilemmas for Hung Parliaments in Britain (Sheridan House, 1986) and Vernon Bogdanor's 'Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution' (Cambridge University Press, 1983).
An aspiring head of government may seek to build a coalition government; in Westminster systems, this typically involves agreement on a joint legislative programme and a number of ministerial posts going to the minor coalition partners, in return for a stable majority. Alternatively, a minority government may be formed, establishing confidence and supply agreements in return for policy concessions agreed in advance, or relying on case by case support.
In the 1999 Victorian state election, the Labor Party won 42 seats, while the incumbent Liberal National Coalition retained 43, with 3 seats falling to independents. The Labor Party formed a minority government with the 3 independents.
The 2010 Tasmanian state election resulted in a hung parliament. After a period of negotiation, the incumbent Labor government led by David Bartlett was recommissioned, but containing the Leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Nick McKim, as a minister, and the Greens' Cassy O'Connor as Cabinet Secretary.
In the 2010 federal election, neither Labor nor the Liberal coalition secured the majority of seats required to form a Government in their own right. In order to counter the potential instability of minority government involved groups may negotiate written agreements defining their terms of support. Such measures were undertaken by the Gillard Government in 2010.
In the 2022 French legislative elections, a hung parliament occurred again with President Macron's Ensemble coalition as the largest bloc in the National Assembly. Both the President and the Prime Minister held talks with opposition leaders in order to try forming a coalition government with the centre-right (LR) and the centre-left (PS and the Greens), or at least reaching some sort of confidence-and-supply deal with them. Talks rapidly failed since no opposition party showed interest in propelling Macron's administration. In July 2022, Prime Minister Borne reshuffled her Cabinet and officially formed a Borne government. As of June 2023, it is still the current government of France.
In 1928, Reform were ousted from governance and Joseph Ward once again won back power. However, the Reform and United (Liberal) parties were tied on seats with Labour holding the balance of power. Labour chose to back Ward rather than let Reform leader Gordon Coates remain in office. In the next election in 1931, there was again a three-way deadlock. On this occasion the Reform and United parties became a coalition government out of mutual fear of Labour's ever-increasing appeal as the Great Depression worsened.
1993 was the last time a hung parliament occurred in New Zealand. Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard asked Sir David Beattie to form a committee, along with three retired appeal court judges, to decide whom to appoint as Prime Minister. However, National won an extra seat after special votes were counted, giving National 50 seats and Labour 45 seats (4 were won by third-party candidates). Labour's Sir Peter Tapsell agreed to become Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. As a result, National did not lose a vote in the house and maintained a dubious majority for three years.
In the 2010 UK general election, another hung parliament occurred with the Conservatives as the largest party, and discussions followed to help create a stable government. This resulted in agreement on a coalition government, which was also a majority government, between the Conservative Party, which won the most votes and seats in the election, and the Liberal Democrats.
In the 2017 UK general election, a hung parliament occurred for the second time in seven years with the Conservatives again being the largest party. The Conservatives led by Theresa May formed a minority government, supported by a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.
When Dafydd Elis-Thomas (Plaid Cymru) was reelected as the presiding officer, this reduced the number of opposition AMs who could vote to 29, as the presiding officer votes only in the event of a tie and, even then, not on party political lines but according to Speaker Denison's rule. Thus, Labour had a working majority of one seat until Law ran in Blaenau Gwent., ePolitix.com. April 17, 2005
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