The reason the Virgin Mary is pained in blue robes is most classical pictures is that blue was the most expensive pigment to make.

Of course, she was often pictured with the gold halo to indicate sanctity.

And so we have Prime Minister David Cameron. The status of NHS funding will have been a fascinating negotiating conversation.

The future isn't what it used to be ... which is a good thing - in parts. Like a curate's egg.

Hello there.

As negotiations over who may form a government continue, it might be useful to have a look through some of the options and positions.

HPI associate editor Tom Smith produced this useful rundown of the possible permutations of coalitions and implications for health policy, dubbing what is ahead 'a radical, unavoidable future for the NHS, whoever wins'.

Tom Lehrer famously said that political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was given the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1973.

This sprang to mind as I read with mounting incredulity this story about West Midlands Ambulance Service commissioning £10,000 worth of research on what makes a leader be perceived as 'cool'.

One of the options in a survey given to ambulance staff was Adolf Hitler.

Yes, you did just read that right.

First past the post electoral systems are great, apparently: they give you strong government. Not like those Continentals, what?

Sheeesh.

So. To recap.

Gordon Brown has recognised that he can't stay as Prime Minister if the Lib Dems are to consider a 'progressive coalition'.

The Conservatives have 'final'-offered the Lib Dems a referendum on Alternative Voting and fixed term parliaments.

And the Lib Dems have opened formal negotiations with Labour, after Brown's announcement that he will stand down by September.

Inversely proportional risks; disproportionate rewards

Hello.

Well, this is fun, isn’t it?

Uncertainty over the deal, coalition or understanding to form a new government lingers like a fart in a spacesuit.

I will be putting some links up later to pieces we’ve published which may help contextualise the policy plans likely to be coming towards us.

The future of commissioning looks less rosy than ever, as HSJ reports that Gary Belfield has handed in his notice.

Good evening.

In these equivocal times, it is particularly sad to report the death of Alan Watkins, one of the best political columnists of recent decades, yesterday. He was 77.

Some smart progressives have decided that a bit of a demonstration outside the Lib Dem meeting this afternoon would be effective.

And they're right.

And they've got Billy Bragg!

This is getting interesting ...

I guess we could all use a laugh. These short film for BBC Newsnight, resurrecting Sir Humphrey Appleby to review the manifestos for the 2010 election, are brilliant.

Here is the Tories.

This one is the Lib Dems.

There is a good rundown of who health-wise has gone or stayed here on the HSJ website.

Some of the departures are no loss at all - just career hacks.

One is a loss, very much so: Dr Richard Taylor, formerly MP for Kidderminster. Elected on the back of a proposed hospital closure in 2001, Taylor secured re-election in 2005 on the back of a strong performance as a constituency MP.

So, unless all the remaining seats declare Tory during the day ...

David Cameron is the Conservative Party's Al Gore.

Nobody can really talk positively about a mandate.

The theory that the Murdoch media influences elections has been comprehensively discredited.

At some point today, the phrase "stealing the election" will re-enter popular usage.