Suppose Callaghan had called an election in 1978 and Labour had narrowly lost? How would a slightly earlier Thatcher government (and presumably one with a smaller majority, about 10-ish) fare?
im one of those who are 90% certain an October 1978 election would result in either a labour majority, or another hung parliament and a Callaghan minority/coalition government.
So, with Thatcher in '78 + 5 years, that puts the Conservatives solidly in the question mark area of 1983.
And sometimes the party in power calls an earlier election(?), am I generally understanding that generally correctly.