London - David Cameron may be on course for a bigger than expected mandate at the British general election but could ultimately end up a more constrained prime minister, experts said Friday.
After five years in coalition with the centrist Liberal Democrats, exit polls and early results showed Cameron's centre-right Conservatives well placed to form a minority government on their own.
The Conservatives had been neck-and-neck with the opposition centre-left Labour Party throughout the campaign and seem to have pulled off a shock late swing.
However analysts said that without the Lib Dems -- whose support has collapsed -- and the coalition's comfortable majority, Cameron could struggle to push through significant legislation.
"It is most likely David Cameron will stay on as prime minister with a minority Conservative government. That's a long way from what most people, including me, were expecting," said Tony Travers, a politics professor at the London School of Economics.
If required, Cameron need only secure ad-hoc support from either conservative-minded Northern Irish parties or the remaining Lib Dem survivors, Travers added.
AFP
