LONDON (Sputnik) – The exit poll results from the UK general election suggest that Britain will most likely continue to have the same coalition government, but likely without the leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, Director of the London School of Economics (LSE) Craig Calhoun told Sputnik early on Friday.
"I am surprised that the exit poll is so decisive, but I am not surprised the Conservatives got the most. My expectation is for a continuation of more or less the same government. Maybe without Nick Clegg," Calhoun said.
Asked about who could replace Nick Clegg as the Liberal Democrats' party leader, Calhoun suggested it could be Norman Lamb.
"They [Liberal Democrats] have done worse even than expected. So they will be in shock," the LSE director said.
Calhoun told Sputnik that the SNP performance is impressive.
"If they keep 58, it's amazing. 57, 56 — it's still amazing. That means a disaster for Labour, much more pressure for another referendum on Scotland, and that they will really try to dominate in Scotland in 2016," the LSE director predicted.
With a soaring British Parliament membership of around 110,000, SNP has become the third largest party in the United Kingdom, having surpassed the Liberal Democrats.
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband expressed his willingness to have a vote-by-vote partnership with SNP during the last BBC Question Time debate.
SNP is predicted to have a high chance of emerging as the biggest gainer in the 2015 UK general election, despite having failed to drum up enough votes in last year's Scottish independence referendum.
