We have a parliamentary system, not a presidential system, in this country. As I said on Friday, with no party able to command a parliamentary majority arising from the General Election, my constitutional duty as Prime Minister is to ensure government continues while parties explore options for forming a new administration with majority support in the House of Commons.

The business of government has continued, including concerted action in Europe today to avert the financial crisis in the euro area. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, spent much of his time yesterday at the European finance ministers' meeting in Brussels.

This morning, I had conversations with the president of the European Council, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and the president of the European Central Bank. I have said I would do all I could to ensure that a stable, strong and principled government is formed, able to tackle Britain's economic and political challenges effectively.

As we know, the Liberal Democrats felt they should first talk to the Conservative Party. Mr Clegg has just informed me that, while he intends to continue his dialogue that he has begun with the Conservatives, he now wishes also to take forward formal discussions with the Labour Party.

I believe it is sensible and it is in the national interest to respond positively.The Cabinet will meet soon. A formal policy negotiating process is being established under the arrangements made by the Cabinet Secretary, similar to the negotiations between other parties.

The first priority should be an agreed deficit reduction plan to support economic growth and a return to full employment.
I know that both parties recognise the importance of ensuring economic stability in the markets and protecting Britain's standing and both are agreed on the need for a strong and full deficit reduction plan over the coming years.

There is also a progressive majority in Britain and I believe it could be in the interests of the whole country to form a progressive coalition government.

In addition to the economic priorities, in my view, only such a progressive government could meet the demand for political and electoral change which the British people made last Thursday.

Our commitments on a new voting system for the House of Commons and for the election of the House of Lords are clearly part of this.

I would however like to say something also about my own position.If it becomes clear that the national interest, which is stable and principled government, can be best served by forming a coalition between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, then I believe I should discharge that duty to form that government which would, in my view, command a majority in the House of Commons in the Queen's Speech and any other confidence votes.

But I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is assured and the process of political reform we have agreed moves forward quickly.

The reason that we have a hung Parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country.

As leader of my party, I must accept that that is a judgment on me. I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election.I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference.I will play no part in that contest. I will back no individual candidate.

I believe that the British people now want us to focus on the economy, the continuing fight against terrorism, the terrorist threat to our country.They want us to continue to pursue the economic recovery, and I will do so with my usual vigour and determination, and I will do all in my power to support the British troops whose service and sacrifice create a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay.

And I believe on Thursday the country was also telling us that they want a new politics, and that the political reforms we seek will help deliver that change. I now intend to facilitate the discussions that the Liberal Democratic party has asked for. Thank you very much. As you will understand I will take no questions this evening. Other discussions can be had later.
Thank you very much.

相關中文報道：
【財新網(wǎng)】倫敦時間5月10日下午，英國首相布朗在唐寧街10號發(fā)表講話，稱自己將很快辭去工黨領導人職務。

布朗稱，目前他將繼續(xù)代表工黨與自由民主黨（下稱“自民黨”）進行結盟談判，與此同時，工黨內(nèi)部將舉行領導人競選，他本人“無意留任長于所需的時間”。他表示希望新的領導人能夠在今年9月的工黨年會之前產(chǎn)生并上任。

布朗作此表示的背景是，5月6日的英國大選產(chǎn)生了無一政黨贏得半數(shù)以上席位的“懸空議會”（hung parliament）：保守黨、工黨和自民黨分獲306、258和57席，均不足325的半數(shù)水平。為保證新政府能夠順利推進政策主張，需要政黨之間結盟組閣。

保守黨黨魁卡梅倫5月7日下午發(fā)表演講，率先向自民黨伸出了聯(lián)合執(zhí)政的橄欖枝。他強調(diào)保守黨與自民黨在歐洲問題、移民政策等方面的分歧，但稱需要為組成一個“穩(wěn)定、強有力的政府”，共商結盟的可能性。他表示同意成立一個跨黨派委員會來研究選舉體制改革，顯示了他對自民黨這一核心訴求的態(tài)度由此前的強硬反對到有所退讓。

接下來的兩天內(nèi)，保守黨和自民黨之間進行了緊張的結盟談判，但工黨未公開表示和自民黨開展談判，雖然媒體稱一些工黨高層與自民黨有所接洽。

而布朗在5月10日的講話中稱，自民黨黨魁克雷格也在剛才告訴他愿意“繼續(xù)與工黨的正式談判”。布朗說，他相信只有一個真正“進步派”的政府才能為英國帶來必要的政治和經(jīng)濟改革，暗示自民黨與“保守派”的保守黨的組合無法實現(xiàn)所需變革。

從政治理念看，自民黨與工黨之間更有“共同語言”。在政治體制改革、削減財政赤字的方式、融入歐洲等關鍵問題上，中間派的自民黨和中左翼的工黨的政策多有重合，而中右翼的保守黨立場明顯不同。不過，在保證國民醫(yī)療體系、教育等重點公共服務領域的投入方面，三黨并無明顯分歧。

布朗辭職的表態(tài)被理解為是工黨為吸引自民黨的青睞而釋放的善意信號。大選前自民黨克雷格針對可能出現(xiàn)的工黨-自民黨聯(lián)盟曾表態(tài)：若工黨的得票率低至第三位，將不能接受布朗繼續(xù)擔任英國首相。當時自民黨民意支持率一度超過工黨，位居第二。

根據(jù)英國憲法，在無一政黨獲得多數(shù)議席的情況下，原則上組閣權在原政府手上。因此，即便工黨的議席落后于保守黨，它仍有優(yōu)先組閣權——工黨不管與哪些政黨結盟組閣，首相仍將由該黨黨魁（目前仍為布朗）擔任。

克雷格當時的表態(tài)體現(xiàn)了自民黨對布朗繼續(xù)留任可能連累新執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟支持率的擔心。自2005年擔任首相以來，布朗在公眾認可度方面表現(xiàn)不佳。雖然他在布萊爾政府擔任財相的成績頗受肯定，但作為首相卻缺乏民眾號召力。今年早些時候他凌辱下屬，競選期間他私下稱一位向他抱怨移民問題的婦女是“老頑固” 等負面消息被曝光，更降低了其民意支持率。

大選結束后，自民黨首先與保守黨而非工黨進行結盟談判，說明自民黨或許更傾向于前者。很大部分原因是因為，工黨與自民黨的席位之和仍未達到半數(shù)，若要組成多數(shù)派政府勢必還需要拉攏其他小黨，這會增加談判和組閣的難度。而且，保守黨及其支持者也一再放話稱，工黨失去近百席正是其失信于民的表現(xiàn)，已經(jīng)沒有資格繼續(xù)執(zhí)政。這種說法雖從憲法角度站不住腳，卻仍可在一定程度上影響公眾心理。

理論上，直到5月25日英國女王發(fā)表“女王講話”之前，現(xiàn)工黨政府都可繼續(xù)留任。

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