Callaghan's Gamble
"...it was not yet four years out from the last election, and no, we were just shy of a majority, and there was no guarantee of a majority. But Jim decided it was time to roll the dice; the supply shock that had just reverberated out from America was being felt everywhere, and Jim presented the snap polls as a "referendum on reform," to plow ahead with new measures in a new and uncertain world. The best part, of course, is that he caught the Tories flatfooted; they had not expected an election until autumn at the earliest, and we wanted to run on an improving economy before the Panama matter and the rising oil prices due to all the violence in Iran put a stake in that..."
- Former Prime Minister Denis Healey, "The '78 Campaign in Retrospective"
"...Maggie was not expecting to have to go to the polls in June. Even by spring of 1978 she was finding her footing, trying to build consensus for her Hayekian and neoliberal ideals within a skeptical Conservative Party. The Liberals, too, were still reeling from the Thorpe scandal. Callaghan is certainly never going to be held up as highly as his predecessor or successor but the '78 gamble worked for him, somehow. Somehow it did. He timed it right, maybe even down to the day..."
- William Whitelaw, "The '78 Campaign in Retrospective"
"...Labour's polling lead narrowed a tiny bit, but Callaghan's aggressive operation meant to remind voters of "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" and presented her as a danger to Britain's fragile economic recovery. "Don't Turn Back Now!" was the slogan, and it worked. Labour in the end won 332 seats, a more comfortable government than they'd earned in 1974, certainly. The Liberals shed a number of seats themselves, and the Tories wound up with 265. No more would Labour need to rely on the Liberals, or Scottish or Welsh nationalists, or even Northern Irish parties that really had little to contribute to pan-British debates in Westminster. Callaghan's gamble had paid off..."
- The Economist, "Obituary: James Callaghan"
"...Callaghan quickly overhauled his Cabinet, moving Healey to Foreign Secretary - the job he was made for - while steering Owen to the Exchequer, effectively swapping the two. Shirley Williams was made a life peer shortly after the election, allowing Roy Jenkins to return to Cabinet at the Education Ministry. Before long, the various personalities of the late 1970s Labour, all of whom expected Callaghan to retire within a year or two now that the only man to ever hold all four Great Offices of State had won his own general election as a career capstone, achieving the rare feat of expanding a government's majority, viewed their Cabinet offices as platforms to position for the next Labour government, that which would form upon Callaghan's exit. The knives were soon out, and battle lines drawn, all within the quiet halls of Westminster..."
- "Labour Force: The Trials and Tribulations of the Labour Party 1974-1991"
- Former Prime Minister Denis Healey, "The '78 Campaign in Retrospective"
"...Maggie was not expecting to have to go to the polls in June. Even by spring of 1978 she was finding her footing, trying to build consensus for her Hayekian and neoliberal ideals within a skeptical Conservative Party. The Liberals, too, were still reeling from the Thorpe scandal. Callaghan is certainly never going to be held up as highly as his predecessor or successor but the '78 gamble worked for him, somehow. Somehow it did. He timed it right, maybe even down to the day..."
- William Whitelaw, "The '78 Campaign in Retrospective"
"...Labour's polling lead narrowed a tiny bit, but Callaghan's aggressive operation meant to remind voters of "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" and presented her as a danger to Britain's fragile economic recovery. "Don't Turn Back Now!" was the slogan, and it worked. Labour in the end won 332 seats, a more comfortable government than they'd earned in 1974, certainly. The Liberals shed a number of seats themselves, and the Tories wound up with 265. No more would Labour need to rely on the Liberals, or Scottish or Welsh nationalists, or even Northern Irish parties that really had little to contribute to pan-British debates in Westminster. Callaghan's gamble had paid off..."
- The Economist, "Obituary: James Callaghan"
"...Callaghan quickly overhauled his Cabinet, moving Healey to Foreign Secretary - the job he was made for - while steering Owen to the Exchequer, effectively swapping the two. Shirley Williams was made a life peer shortly after the election, allowing Roy Jenkins to return to Cabinet at the Education Ministry. Before long, the various personalities of the late 1970s Labour, all of whom expected Callaghan to retire within a year or two now that the only man to ever hold all four Great Offices of State had won his own general election as a career capstone, achieving the rare feat of expanding a government's majority, viewed their Cabinet offices as platforms to position for the next Labour government, that which would form upon Callaghan's exit. The knives were soon out, and battle lines drawn, all within the quiet halls of Westminster..."
- "Labour Force: The Trials and Tribulations of the Labour Party 1974-1991"
