Election 1978-A premise

I tried this thread before but it went haywire. I could really do with some advice on this as it proceeds so here goes:

3rd May 1978 BBC Broadcasting House 10.00 PM

David Dimbleby:

"Good evening. If our preliminary indications are correct this election is shaping up to be even closer than the February 1974 poll.

Our early indications point towards another hung parliament with the Conservatives on 304 seats and Labour on 303 seats with the Liberals and the smaller parties holding the balance of power.

Our correspondents are with the three party leaders. John Sergeant is in Huyton with the Prime Minister Mr Wilson. Michael Beurk is in Finchley with Mrs Thatcher and Sue Lawley is with Mr Thorpe in Devon.

We'll be with them soon but it's over to Angela Rippon for the rest of the day's news..."
 
Sue Lawley would be with Mr Steel in Peebles, unless that's your POD. The dog-shooter ceased to be Liberal Party leader in 1976.
 
Oh, that would be interesting and unfortunate.

I presume therefore that the unpleasant business on Exmoor has been kept firmly hushed up.

Yes, the notion is that during the October'74/78 government The Liberals under Thorpe helped the small majority/minority Labour government stay in power.

But a combination of Wilson's alcoholism and increasing mental instability coupled with the security services concern about Thorpe's little peccadillos meant that when Wilson called an election because he feared the revitalised Tories under Thatcher meant that secrets kept for so long could now be in danger of coming out.
 
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John Sergeant "Give Me Ten Seconds" Published in 2000

To say the 1978 General Election was the most exciting would perhaps be wrong. Certainly it had its moments but these were mainly dramatic

There was no doubt amongst journalists that Harold Wilson was seriously ill by the time of the election. His drinking was well known but his mental health difficulties were only just becoming apparent. Yet at the time the full facts surrounding his alzheimers was kept from the general public.

It was felt that if this news became public then the government would experience a tremendous crisis (of which there were many in the late 1970's) and possibly fall.

What was not know at the time were the issues surrounding Jeremy Thorpe.The allegations surround his sexuality and the ramifications of this were certainly know to the security services and to the highest echelons of the government including Mr Wilson

It can be argued that what happened in the days after the election of 1978 were directly linked to the circumstances of both Wilson and Thorpe.
 
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