Confidence and Supply
An arrangement where a smaller party agrees to support a minority government on confidence votes and budget bills, without formally entering a coalition.
Explanation
Confidence and supply is a looser form of parliamentary support than full coalition. A smaller party agrees to vote with the government on crucial confidence motions (to prevent it from falling) and supply bills (the budget, which governments need to fund their operations), but does not join the cabinet and is free to oppose the government on other legislation. It is common in minority government situations where a full coalition is impossible or politically undesirable. The UK's Conservative-DUP arrangement after 2017 was a confidence and supply agreement. New Zealand's Labour-Green relationship has used similar arrangements. It gives smaller parties influence without the reputational risk of sharing collective cabinet responsibility.
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