In a
parliamentary system of government, a
hung parliament is a colloquial expression to describe a state of a parliament when no single
political party (or bloc of allied parties) has an
absolute majority of seats in the
parliament (
legislature). It is also less commonly known as a
balanced parliament or a legislature under
no overall control. If the legislature is
bicameral, and the government is
responsible only to the
lower house, then "hung parliament" is used only with respect to that chamber. It is the objective of parliamentary systems for the parliament to be able to form a stable government, preferably that lasts until the next election. This requires the government to be able to muster up sufficient votes in parliament to pass important legislation, especially to be able to pass the government's budget. It also needs sufficient votes to defeat votes of
no-confidence in the government. If the state of the parliament is such that a majority government cannot be formed, the government may be referred to as a "
minority government". The term
hung parliament is used mainly in
systems with two parties or two
party blocs. Most
general elections in such a system will result in one or other party having an absolute majority and thus quickly forming a new government; a "hung parliament" is an exception to this pattern, and may be considered anomalous or undesirable. One or both main parties may seek to form a
coalition government with smaller
third parties, or a
minority government relying on
confidence and supply support from third parties or
independents. If these efforts fail, a
dissolution of parliament and a fresh election may be the last resort.