Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders promised to work together after the divisive referendum on electoral reform which pitted the coalition partners against each other and heightened strains within the deficit-cutting government.

But Business Secretary Vince Cable, a senior Liberal Democrat, illustrated the depth of feeling over the vote in an interview following the humiliating defeats.

“Some of us never had many illusions about the Conservatives anyway. They have emerged as ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal,” he told the BBC.

Cable made clear that the Lib Dems’ relations with the Conservatives would be “businesslike” in future.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected electoral reform that the Lib Dems had championed in Thursday’s referendum. The Lib Dems also suffered heavy losses in English local elections and in Scotland, leaving them bruised and raising fears the coalition parties would find it hard to work together in future.

Voters punished the Lib Dems for the austerity policies enacted by the coalition to cut Britain’s record peace-time budget deficit, leading some commentators to call them “human shields” for the Conservatives, whose vote held up well.

Despite the Lib Dems’ drubbing at the ballot box, there were no immediate signs of a challenge to Nick Clegg, the party’s leader and deputy prime minister.

Chris Huhne, the cabinet minister seen as his most likely challenger, said now was not the time to change the leadership.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the referendum campaign had been “difficult” but pledged the coalition would continue until 2015, as planned.

Financial markets have so far remained calm, largely because it is not seen as in the Lib Dems’ interest to walk away from government, or in the Conservatives’ interest to let them go.

The opposition Labour party has inched ahead in opinion polls, making a snap national election risky for both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems.

Cable said his party would work with the Conservatives to resolve Britain’s deep economic problems but left little doubt that the warm feelings that characterised the start of the year-old alliance had worn thin.
 

Cable said his party should be more aggressive in promoting its interests which include reforming the banking sector and the unelected upper chamber of parliament, and toning down the Conservatives’ plans for a radical overhaul of health services.

“There are a lot of things in (the coalition agreement) that we haven’t yet realized, a fairer tax system ... the banking system still isn’t functioning ... and indeed the health service reforms went some way beyond what had been in the coalition agreement and that is going to be a major issue,” he said.

The elections could have far-reaching implications in Scotland, where the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) chalked up huge gains, securing an outright majority in the Scottish parliament, which has limited powers.

The SNP has promised a referendum on Scottish independence within five years. A recent poll suggested only a third of Scots wanted separation from Britain.

A fully independent Scotland could change the handling of profits from North Sea oil fields, a crucial tax income for cash-strapped Britain, and may also have implications for the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland. 

In the short term, SNP leader Alex Salmond is looking for greater tax-raising and borrowing powers.

The referendum on voting reform was a key concession won by the Lib Dems for joining the center-right Conservatives last year in Britain’s first coalition since World War Two.

Conservative members of parliament oppose making any further concessions to the Lib Dems to shore up their position.

One senior Conservative MP, Bernard Jenkin, said the government should concentrate on pushing through its core policies rather than pandering to Lib Dem demands.