What Is a Minority Government? How It Survives, With Examples

A minority government is a government formed by a party, or a coalition of parties, that does not hold a majority of seats in the legislature. It can stay in office only as long as enough members from outside the government either support it or decline to vote it down, so it has to win backing from other parties vote by vote or through a standing agreement.

In bicameral parliaments, what matters is usually the lower house: in the UK, the House of Commons.

How a minority government survives

The UK Cabinet Manual describes a single-party minority government as one that may be "supported by a series of ad hoc agreements based on common interests". In practice there are several ways to stay afloat.

• Case-by-case support. The government finds enough votes for each bill, sometimes from different parties on different issues. These shifting groups of supporters are sometimes called "jumping majorities".
• A standing agreement. One or more parties promise to back the government on confidence votes and the budget, usually in return for policy commitments. This is known as confidence and supply.
• Abstention. In some systems a government needs only more votes for than against, so a party that abstains can keep it in office without voting for it. Belgium's rules for investing a government work this way.

A minority government can also be a coalition. Several Scandinavian governments have been minority coalitions; in Denmark, most multi-party coalitions since 1982 have lacked a majority. For the difference between the two forms, see what is a coalition government.

Minority governments in the UK

Single-party majorities are the usual result at Westminster, so minority governments are uncommon and often short-lived. They can arise in two ways: from an election that produces a hung parliament, or from a government losing its majority during a parliament.

1974: a minority after an election

After the general election of February 1974 left no party with a majority, Labour governed as a minority for about seven months. It called a second election in October 1974 and won a majority of three.

1976–1979: a majority lost mid-term

That small majority did not last. By late 1976 a by-election defeat, two Labour MPs leaving to form the Scottish Labour Party and a resignation had wiped it out. The government survived with the help of the Liberal–Labour pact of 1977, which lapsed in July 1978. On 28 March 1979 the opposition's motion of no confidence was carried by 311 votes to 310, and the government went to the country.

1996–1997 and 2017–2019

The Conservative government lost its Commons majority in December 1996 and governed as a minority until the general election of May 1997. After the 2017 election, the Conservatives again governed as a minority, this time supported by a confidence and supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party that lasted until the 2019 general election.

Minority governments in Canada

Canada uses first past the post, like the UK, but minority governments are far more common there. By one count it has had 16 federal minority governments, including three in a row elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Typically, though not necessarily, the party with the most seats forms the government. Federal minority governments have usually lasted less than two years.

Year	What happened
1979	A Progressive Conservative minority with 136 seats, six short of a majority, presented its budget on 11 December. It was defeated on 13 December by 139 votes to 133. In the election that followed, the Liberals won a majority.
2011	On 25 March the Commons passed a no-confidence motion, 156 to 145, after a committee found the Conservative minority government in contempt of Parliament. Parliament was dissolved the next day, and at the election on 2 May the Conservatives won 166 of 308 seats, a majority.
2022–2024	The New Democratic Party agreed to support the Liberal minority on confidence and budget votes in return for commitments on dental care, prescription drugs and childcare. The NDP ended the deal on 4 September 2024.

The 2011 case was the first time a government in Canada, or any other Commonwealth country, had been found in contempt of Parliament.

Strengths and weaknesses

Arguments in favour

• Flexibility. A minority government can build different majorities for different issues rather than being tied to one partner.
• Legitimacy. Where a minority government has to be approved by a vote in parliament, as in Belgium, supporters say that vote gives it democratic legitimacy even without a majority.
• Stability is possible. With a firm confidence and supply agreement, a minority government can be about as stable as a majority one.
• Coping with crises. Commentators in Belgium, where minority governments have been used, have credited them with flexibility at times of crisis.

Arguments against

• Vulnerability. If the opposition parties unite, they can defeat bills or bring the government down, as happened in the UK in 1979 and in Canada in 1979 and 2011.
• Short lives. Minority governments face the constant risk of no-confidence motions and are often short-lived, which makes long-term planning harder.
• Weak legislation. In Westminster especially, minority governments are often seen as lacking the strength to pass their programme.
• Diluted programmes. The deals needed to win support can produce compromises that water down what the governing party promised voters.

Which of these weighs more depends partly on habit. In countries where minority government is normal, parties and voters expect bargaining; where it is rare, it is more often treated as a sign of instability.