UK's Labour woos Liberal Democrats to form govt

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LONDON, May 11(AP): Britain's pivotal third party kept its larger suitors - and the electorate - hanging Tuesday, opening formal negotiations with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party to form a new government after talks with the rival Conservatives.
Five days after an election that produced no outright winner, the third-placed Liberal Democrats were playing hardball in hopes of extracting maximum concessions in return for propping up a Conservative or Labour administration.
Brown's dramatic decision Monday to announce his impending resignation opened the way for a possible deal with the Liberal Democrats - who had demanded his removal as a condition for any deal.
Both of the two main political parties have now offered to meet the Liberal Democrats' key demand - electoral reform - muddying the differences between the two offers.
Conservative leader David Cameron appeared miffed at the sudden turn of events, which came after both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats claimed to be making progress Monday in their coalition talks.
"It is now, I believe, decision time," Cameron said early Tuesday.
Cameron's Conservatives - who won the most seats in Parliament in Thursday's national election but fell short of capturing a majority - have struggled in their attempts to win over the Liberal Democrats.
Though the Liberal Democrats appeared genuinely open to a deal with the Conservatives, they are more ideologically compatible with Labour. Brown's offer to resign could give Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg a viable chance at passing electoral reform and a role in the British government after years on the political fringe.