So, it finally came to pass. After days of will-they-won’t-they, Con-Lib-Lab-Rainbow coalitioning, David Dimbleby can go home and get some much needed sleep. For Clegg has chosen a peg on which to hang his hat and we know what shape our new government has taken: an historic Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

Aside from the obvious party political intrigue in all of this, the outstanding story of the past few days – and the one that will one way or another come to define this parliament – is one of negotiation. Something which HR professionals, especially in industrial relations, know all about.

It is something rarely before seen in British politics. Variously known as compromise; give and take; attempting to see things from a different point of view; finding common ground… When was the last time you heard any of those words or phrases used in connection with UK politics?

OK, you could say that for every negotiation there will be a “back room deal”; for every compromise between parties there is a sacrifice of ideological principle. However, in what other sphere – be it in one’s private or professional life – are things done without regular compromise, without people with different viewpoints working together? Or put another way, in what other realm of decision making and sharing of views are two sides sat opposite each other, encouraged to ridicule each other, where people speak not with but at each other, every week – see prime minister’s question time for, oh, forever.

I’m not naive enough to think that things won’t shortly fall back into that order (although it will certainly be interesting to see the first questions asked in Parliament, with each major party now sat on different sides and Clegg at Cameron’s side). But I am optimistic enough to think that the current climate of negotiation offers the viewing public (for it has been a TV soap opera recently as much as anything else) and the politicians a glimpse and a hope of how progressive politics could differ from the adversarial model.

What matters now is that all three political parties accept their new roles as quickly as possible, and that the Liberals and Conservatives enter into partnership in good faith. Both sides must appreciate the others’ part in making the “strong and stable” government they say they crave.

It will be the individual appointments, though, that reveal the workability of this new union. Vince Cable, the new business secretary, has touted Robin Hood taxes while in opposition. Meanwhile Iain Duncan Smith, the new work and pensions secretary, previously proved too far right for the Conservative party to stomach as a leader. They will now be close colleagues, heading two departments that require close collaboration. That’s certainly a partnership and a policy area that I will be watching with great interest, to see whether it will be the new politics of negotiation, or old individual agendas, that will shine through.