A compromising position.

摘要

Common sense is taken seriously in Oldham East and Sad-dleworth, a constituency which combines a gritty former mill town with pretty Pennine villages, and which on January 13th will hold the first parliamentary by-election of the coalition era. For David Cameron and his government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, there is some good news: lots of local voters say they associate coalition rule with a consensual form of decision-making, leading to common sense and moderation. There is also bad news: voters can be heard complaining that coalition government has led to broken promises. Confusingly, some of these happy and unhappy voters are the same people.