The future of the hunting ban is hanging in the balance as supporters and opponents of the legislation await the outcome of the new government's coalition talks.

The Conservatives had promised a free vote on repeal for the 2004 Act that banned hunting with dogs, held early in the Parliament in Government time.

Senior Tory figures, including David Cameron, William Hague and Nick Herbert, had insisted it was a "bad law" which should be reversed.

But there was no mention of the pledge in the early agreement released by the two parties this week, raising the prospect of it being shelved. Liberal Democrat policy has opposed repealing the ban.

A government source suggested there was an assumption a free vote would go ahead but was not clear when.

Last night the League Against Cruel Sports released figures that it claimed showed any free vote – where MPs are not forced to toe a party line – would see the ban remain in place. The anti-hunt campaign group examined the views of candidates before they were elected, covering 59 per cent of the total 649 new Members of Parliament. Some 210 supported the ban and 169 wanted it repealed.

The LACS then "extrapolated" the figures to suggest that if a vote were held, 328 MPs would back the ban while 293 would be in support of its demise.

In a section entitled "restore our civil liberties", the Conservative manifesto pledged: "The Hunting Act has proved unworkable. A Conservative government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government bill in government time."

The Lib Dem manifesto made no mention of hunting, while the Labour policy document highlighted how the party had "banned fox hunting and animal testing for cosmetics and tobacco".

Tim Bonner, spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, said: "We don't expect a Repeal Bill on the same sort of timetable there might have been with a Conservative majority government, but we are very confident that at some stage during the five-year parliament the manifesto commitment will be brought forward."

Given the scale of the "financial crisis" it would be "ridiculous" to think addressing the Hunting Act was a priority for the new government, Mr Bonner said.

Also in some doubt is the pledge to order a cull of badgers in areas worst affected by the spread of bovine TB, which was in the Tory manifesto but not the Lib Dems'.

Writing in the WMN this week, farming expert Anthony Gibson said: "It probably won't happen until this time next year, given the need to prepare the ground and probably to contest a legal challenge from the Badger Trust.

"But provided that a cull is based on the advice of the Independent Scientific Group, or has some other equally authoritative scientific validation, then that obstacle can be surmounted and the work of draining the reservoir of infection in wildlife can begin."