It's not just the emergence of a conservative party at peace with modernity, it's the willingness to compromise that is striking. A reader writes:
It is SO REFRESHING to see an on-paper list of common principles and goals between two parties on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Forcing politicians to compromise and form coalitions is a great strength of the parliamentary system that is sorely missed in America's current political climate, so characterized as it is by "the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension" (Washington).
Take this line for example: "Provision will be made for Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain on introducing transferable tax allowances for married couples." It speaks volumes about the real potential for this odd political marriage of convenience to actually work and produce sound governance.
I sometimes wish we had in the US a system similar to that in Germany. A lower house that apportions seats solely on the basis of state populations seems a poor solution when citizen loyalty to a specific state has declined and modern technology has made moving from state to state so easy and common. How much better to let blue Alabamians and Red Californians have an elected voice they can point to as their own.