He went on to call it "absolutely essential" for the three parties to be reduced to two "as soon as possible", although he stated that he was unsure which parties should merge. Deakin's analogy passed into common usage to describe the unstable party system in the first decade after Federation. However, according to the analogy was imperfect, as realistically the Labor Party and Free Traders would never agree to an alliance; Deakin's party was an obligatory partner in any coalition government.