All the possible coalition combinations for next year's election

A new poll of polls has indicated a hung parliament is increasingly likely at the next general election.

But another full-scale coalition with ministers from different parties in the event of no one party winning a majority next year is by no means a certainty.

The Conservative and Labour leaderships might consider a looser “confidence and supply” arrangement in which another party (or other parties) support the main party in key Commons votes, in return for their own policy gains.

With Ukip, the Greens and SNP all likely to pick up more seats next year, things are looking much more complicated than in May 2010...

Possible combinations:

Conservatives / Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

The leader of the DUP's eight MPs, Nigel Dodds, has been described as the "most popular man in Westminster". Reports suggest that both Labour and the Tories are trying to soften him up for next year, but a better fit would be with the Conservatives.

Likelihood: 4/5