How the Coalition government was formed

„Instead of building a relationship with the man with whom he might have to share power, Gordon Brown relied instead on his contacts with former Lib Dem leaders – Charles Kennedy, Paddy Ashdown and Menzies Campbell – and Vince Cable. Cable, who has known and liked Brown for three decades, was a regular pre-election visitor to Number 10. There were even hints of a ministerial job for him. Brown ignored the advice of Cable and all his Lib Dem friends to find a way to get on with Clegg.

Cameron, on the other hand, had spent years wooing the Lib Dems – calling himself a Liberal Conservative; declaring that there was "not a cigarette paper" between many of their policies and praising Clegg for his campaign for Gurkha rights. Although Clegg was determined to resist any invitation to meet Cameron before polling day, tonight's film reveals a chance 45-minute meeting, at the opening of the Supreme Court last October, which allowed them to get to know and trust each other – as Cameron says, he established that Clegg was "a reasonable person, in politics for the right reasons".

Labour figures argue that all the above – the parliamentary arithmetic, the market warnings, the Prime Minister being "Gordon-ish" – are mere alibis for the Lib Dems, who want to pretend that they had no choice but to get into bed with the Tories. It's certainly true that Nick Clegg and his party chose rather than were forced into coalition with the Conservatives. The official advice, the economic risk, the personal chemistry and the politics all combined to convince them. The decision they took in those five days when they, like me, were very, very tired, changed Britain.”