Analysis: UK politics may have to get used to horse trading

London, England (CNN) -- How big is big? How open is open?

Conservative leader David Cameron has said his power-sharing offer to the Liberal Democrats following the unresolved UK election is "big, open and comprehensive."

But will it be big enough to tempt them to ally with a traditional political opponent? Will it be open enough to persuade those in both parties who fear that essential principles or interests will be sold out?

Will there be a Conservative/Liberal Democrat deal at all? If not, could a Lib Dem/Labour deal keep Gordon Brown in Downing Street as prime minister?

After knocking the stuffing out of each other for four weeks, Britain's major political parties are now jostling to buy each other a drink. Listen to their public statements and you might believe, if you had spent most of your life in Fairyland, that they are doing so in the "national interest."

Analysis: UK politics may have to get used to horse trading

London, England (CNN) -- How big is big? How open is open?

Conservative leader David Cameron has said his power-sharing offer to the Liberal Democrats following the unresolved UK election is "big, open and comprehensive."

But will it be big enough to tempt them to ally with a traditional political opponent? Will it be open enough to persuade those in both parties who fear that essential principles or interests will be sold out?

Will there be a Conservative/Liberal Democrat deal at all? If not, could a Lib Dem/Labour deal keep Gordon Brown in Downing Street as prime minister?

After knocking the stuffing out of each other for four weeks, Britain's major political parties are now jostling to buy each other a drink. Listen to their public statements and you might believe, if you had spent most of your life in Fairyland, that they are doing so in the "national interest."

UK political rivals meet to resolve election deadlock

London, England (CNN) -- The United Kingdom's Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties met Sunday as leading politicians worked to resolve a national election that failed to yield an outright winner.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, whose party came third after Thursday's vote, held meetings with fellow party members Saturday to discuss a possible deal with either of the two largest parties, Labour and the Conservatives.

Clegg also met with Conservative leader David Cameron and took a call from Labour leader and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday night, local media reported.

"Everyone's trying to be constructive for the good of the country," Clegg said in comments to reporters Sunday ahead of the talks.

Election results

"I'm very keen that the Liberal Democrats should play a constructive role at a time of great economic uncertainty to provide a good government that this country deserves.

William Hague, a former Conservative leader, told the media scrum as he arrived for the talks that the party was "conscious of the need to provide the country with a new stable and legitimate government as soon as possible.

Brown and Cameron both offered to form an alliance with the Liberal Democrats on Friday as they jostled for power after the election, in which the Conservatives gained the most seats in the House of Commons.

Brown, who remains prime minister even though Labour lost its parliamentary majority, said Friday that he would be willing to negotiate with any party leader.

Robin Oakley, political contributor for CNN, explained that at present Brown is essentially in a caretaker position.

"He cannot do anything really until the talks between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats break down," Oakley said.

During a break in the talks with his own party Saturday, Clegg addressed hundreds of protesters in London who were demonstrating in favor of proportional representation, a system supported by the Liberal Democrats.