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Britain's main opposition parties will meet on Sunday to try to break the deadlock of last week's inconclusive election before financial markets lose patience.David Cameron's Conservatives won the most seats in Thursday's parliamentary election but fell short of a majority to form a government and are seeking the support of Nick Clegg's centre-left Liberal Democrats.It is the first election since 1974 where no one party has won an overall majority, leading to horse trading that is unfamiliar in British politics.Teams from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats were due to meet at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) in an attempt to secure a deal that would end 13 years of Labour rule."I am very keen that the Liberal Democrats play a constructive role at a time of great economic uncertainty to provide the good government that this country deserves," Clegg told reporters outside his home on Sunday.Leading Conservative politician and former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind said there was no guarantee of a deal between the two parties but described the signs as encouraging."What I do see is a good body language. They seem to be talking seriously," he told BBC television, adding that both sides were aware prolonged uncertainty could have "serious implications for our credit ratings, our interest rates".Rifkind said Cameron planned to meet parliamentary members of the party on Monday and that he would be "astonished" if he could not accept any proposals put forward by his leader.The greatest stumbling block may well be electoral reform, a long-cherished ambition of the Liberal Democrats who would win far more seats if Britain switched from its winner-takes-all system to proportional representation. The Conservatives are firmly opposed to such a change.A YouGov poll in the Sunday Times showed 62 percent of those surveyed favoured a more proportional system of voting.KEY DIFFERENCESThe parties must overcome other key differences on economic policy, defence, immigration and Britain's stance towards Europe, but they could find common ground on issues such as lower taxes for the poor and the environment.Rifkind said the differences meant he doubted Britain would end up with a full coalition government but a deal involving serious concessions in a number of key policy areas."How can the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives agree on Europe or on (nuclear deterrent) Trident for example," he said.Both sides say they will not be rushed, but are acutely aware of the financial markets' need for decisive action on a record budget deficit, running at more than 11 percent of output.It is unlikely a deal could be reached by Monday, a Conservative spokesman said, noting that the party's new members of parliament, who will be briefed on the negotiations, would not meet until Monday evening.Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who continues to rule but effectively was sidelined after he said on Friday that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats should be given the time they needed to hold talks, nevertheless had phone conversations with Clegg, the Liberal Democrats said on Saturday."At the request of the prime minister, Nick Clegg took a call from Gordon Brown this evening. The conversation was amicable," they said in statement.Clegg, who has to win his party's support before any deal can go ahead with either party, was locked in discussions with party officials throughout most of Saturday, which his chief of staff said had been "positive and productive".The leader also held a 70-minute meeting with Cameron late on Saturday, which parties said was "amicable and constructive".Another key hurdle to a deal is agreement on the pace of lowering the budget deficit. The Conservatives have pledged to cut it immediately but the Liberal Democrats say this could harm Britain's recovery from a deep recession in 2008-2009.If the Liberal Democrat/Conservative talks fail, a deal between Clegg and Labour is possible, but more complicated as the two parties combined would still not have enough MPs to command a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.For multimedia coverage, see http://r.reuters.com/quq44jGraphic of gilt and stg reaction http://r.reuters.com/nec23kGraphic of results http://r.reuters.com/hym23kFor more on this click http://uk.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/politics. For Twitter follow-up, click https://twitter.com/reuters_co_uk(Additional reporting by Paul Hoskins; Editing by Charles Dick)
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