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Matt Malone, S.J.May 06, 2010

It is approaching 3:00 a.m. here in London and in the words of Ed Miliband, Britain's secretary of state for energy, "the people have spoken, but we don't quite know what they've said." The Conservative Party had 116 seats on its so-called ‘hit list,’ the seats they thought they had a chance of stealing from other parties in order to form a majority. The list is more like hits and misses at the moment. Where the Tories are winning, they are winning big, but they are not racking up the numbers they need in the marginal districts in order to get to a majority. No pattern is emerging just yet and even the most informed observers are befuddled. The exit poll prediction is holding and a hung parliament seems more likely. David Cameron is addressing his constituency. He is speaking of a "new government" and, while many more results are still to come, it appears that "Labour have clearly lost their mandate to govern." He says he stands ready to bring "strong, stable, decisive government to the country." There is uncertainty in his tone.

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