...In Great Britain, the beginning of the 1970s saw the Labour Party firmly in control over the reins of state. Following the exit of the United States from combat operations in Vietnam, Prime Minister Harold Wilson made a conspicuous show of being present for negotiations, earning himself the reputation as a peacemaker. This earned Labour another majority government in 1970, an election which saw the effective end of the Liberal Party, which was left with only three seats following the election.
Wilson's third parliamentary term was not to be a pleasant one. Northern Ireland had exploded into violence and the conflict between the largely Protestant Unionists and the largely Catholic Republicans began racking up higher and higher body totals despite the presence of British troops and the suspension of the Protestant-dominated Northern Irish government. Inflation also had continued to rise throughout the period, something that the government was unable to fight with spending cuts owing to an increasingly bold trade unionist movement periodically threatening industry-wide or even general strikes if domestic spending was reduced.
Not even British entry into the European Economic Community in 1972 could erase the economic malaise that had engulfed Britain and Wilson resigned following a series of by-election losses in 1973. His successor, James Callaghan, found himself with limited success in dealing with inflation. His limited success in Northern Ireland (where a power-sharing agreement was reached until it fell apart later in the decade) and the successful referendum on keeping Britain in the European Union (as the EEC had been renamed in 1973) did little to persuade British voters to keep Labour on and in 1975, the Conservatives under William Whitelaw won a slim majority government...
View attachment 249444
...The craze of "Trudeaumania" fizzled out in Canada quickly after the eponymous prime minister's rocky first term. Despite enshrining official bilingualism and taking a firm stand against separatist terrorism in Quebec, the lackluster economy and constitutional wrangling in an unsuccessful attempt to patriate the Canadian constitution in 1971 saw the Liberals reduced to a minority government in 1972. Trudeau's government was propped up by support from the New Democratic Party and a slight turnaround in fortunes (as a result of increased American reliance on cheaper Canadian oil following their falling from favor in the Arab world) was enough to give Trudeau a solid majority government in 1974, aided by a poor campaign from the Progressive Conservatives under Robert Stanfield. The New Democrats, as a result of voter switching to the Liberals, fell below official party status, winning only nine seats.