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1970 Edward Heath Conservative 1
1972 Peter Carrington Conservative and OUP 2 and 3

1974 Jim Callaghan (Labour/Liberal Minority Government)4
1975 Jim Callaghan (Labour/]LiberalCoalition) 5

1978 William Whitelaw (Conservative Minority) 6

1. Edward Heath calls an election after the miners strike of '72 cripples the country. Voters are furious at Heath's cowardice but the Tories win the most seats.

2.The OUP (anti Stormont power sharing) offer support provided Heath steps down as PM (they see Heath as pro United Ireland). Heath refuses at first but is warned that a leadership challenge would unseat him. Heath quits and Carrington renounces his peerage and becomes PM.

3. Sectarian violence and Industrial strife combine to bring the government down. The OUP demands Carrington ensure the unions and the NUM calls a national strike in November 1973 plunging the country into chaos. An IRA bomb in Manchester kills 47 people. The OUP quits the coalition and Carrington carries on as a lame duck PM until March 1974.

4. The '74 election proves to be one of the most chaotic and tightest ever. Labour gains the most seats but no-where near enough to form a government. In an incredible shift Callaghan asks Thorpe's Liberals to help Labour stabilise the country.

5. Callaghan calls an election in '75 after the "yes" vote wins the EEC referendum. Both Labour and Liberal fortunes improve as a result of the co-operation between the parties.

6. Tensions rise in the government as a result of the Liberals demands for electoral reform. The Liberals want PR and assemblies for Scotland and Wales. Callaghan offers Assemblies. The Liberals vote against to collapse the coalition despite Liberal Leader and Home Secretary David Steel's attempts to keep the alliance together.

Callaghan calls an election in June '78 and the result is more uncertainty. Liberal voters punish the party for leaving the government by switching to the Tories. Whitelaw forms a minority administration.
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