The Heath Coalition
1974: Edward Heath (Conservative/Liberal) [1]
1977 (January): Edward Heath (Conservative minority) [2]
1977 (April): Edward Heath (Conservative minority) [3]
1977 (June): Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1980: Jim Prior (Conservative) [5]
1981: Jim Prior (Conservative) [6]
1985 (February): Geoffrey Howe (Conservative) [7]
1985 (October): David Steel (Liberal/Labour) [8]
1987: Michael Meadowcroft (Liberal/Labour) [9]
1991 (May): Jeremy Corbyn (Labour minority) [10]
1991 (December): Tony Benn (Labour/Liberal) [11]
1993: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative minority) [12]
1994: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative) [13]
1998: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative) [14]
[1] The 1974 election resulted in an unexpectedly poor result for the Conservatives, and Edward Heath found himself as the main protagonist of a hung parliament. Reluctant to enter into coalition negotiations with the equally unsympathetic Liberals, Heath nevertheless wanted a Conservative-driven success in the long-fought goal for British EEC membership and therefore fought for a coalition with Thorpe in good faith. In the end, Heath promised a national referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) - a major concession that the Liberals could not refuse. In truth, however, Heath was confident that the referendum would result in a FPTP victory and that any potential Conference on the issue would come to a similar conclusion.
[2] After the "Yes to FPTP" side won the 1976 referendum, it was quite clear that the Liberals - growing restless over the Conservatives' heavy-handed approach in Northern Ireland and the squabbles between One Nation and monetarist Tories in Cabinet - could not hold the coalition together for much longer. When Jeremy Thorpe was taken to court over an alleged murder attempt after the referendum, the Liberals found their position in the coalition totally untenable and withdrew under Jo Grimond in January 1977. Heath was left with a minority government and, it was believed, planned to go ahead with a March or April election later that year.
[3] The April election was again a close contest, and again resulted in a hung parliament with Heath at the top. The deadlock was deeply frustrating for the Prime Minister, who found the Liberals no longer willing to return their support and a deeply-hostile Labour Party under Michael Foot. And so, in an unprecedented move, the country went to the polls for a second 1977 election.
[4] Heath continues to defy expectations, repeating the success of his 1970 victory with a surprisingly clear majority of 29. Running on a slogan of 'Who Governs Britain?' (i.e. a strong Conservative government versus Liberals holding the government hostage), Heath offers an agenda of reform, a new 'Industrial Charter', with reforms of employment legislation, accompanied by incomes policy. He also pledges to sign the UK up to new plans for a European Monetary System. The Labour Party is greatly harmed in the election by its leader Michael Foot and his position on the nuclear deterrent. The election is also marked by a strong performance of the National Front who pick up a considerable protest vote of 6%, causing significant concern.
[5] After a decade in office, Heath decided to retire whilst Labour entered into its second post-'77 leadership election so that his successor might hit the ground running. In a bitter contest between Jim Prior (the Heathite heir) and Nicholas Ridley (the standard-bearer of the monetarist Right), Prior succeeded and set about reconciling the government and the embittered trade unions whilst attempting to integrate Britain further into the EEC.
[6] With Labour continuing to self-destruct in the battle for factional supremacy, Prior was returned to Downing Street after taking the country to the polls early in 1981 over a strengthening Liberal Party (that won 30 seats). As Europe came closer together, the City of London continued plans to become the central conurbation for the European Monetary System and Prior set about on a controversial yet practical plan to compensate the unions for substantial reform to British industry and industrial policy.
[7] While the City of London flourished as the de facto commercial capital of the EEC following the creation of the European Monetary Institute in 1984, the public started to grow increasingly weary of Prior's Conservative administration, which many perceived as a clique of cold accountants at a time when a more balanced and just course of action was so desperately needed. When Prior's 'Middle Way' trade union law reform plan is soundly rejected by the so-called 'New Right' in the party, he is openly challenged for leadership by Foreign Secretary Margaret Thatcher. Demoralised by the loss of support, Prior resigns from his office as party leader and steps down as Prime Minister. Having overestimated the support she would receive by the party's Right, Thatcher loses the leadership election against Geoffrey Howe and retires from her political career.
[8] Trying to capitalise on the strong economic growth during the last 15 years of Conservative government, Howe's calling of an early election leads to a most unexpected outcome. While retaining the status as the largest party in parliament, the Conservatives fall short of reaching a majority and lose many seats to a surging Liberal Party. Running on a platform of 'Healing the Country', the Liberals are able to pick up many votes from disaffected Conservative voters in Scotland and North England, and, by promising to fight the widening gap between the rich and the poor, can secure the support of the now smaller but stabilised Labour Party under the leadership of the charismatic and dynamic Tony Benn in order to create a coalition government that has a narrow majority of just seven seats in parliament.
[9] Steel, as leader of a very narrow coalition government, almost immediately began to run into trouble. Many of the true left of the Labour Party opposed the Liberal commitment to a stronger Europe, and again the government faced resistance for limited proposals for devolution for Scotland and Wales. Ultimately, however, it was the attempt to abolish the nuclear deterrent and also implement AV voting that mortally wounded the government; having lost two of his key policy pledges within the first years of his government, Steel was forced to call an election. From a personal perspective, it was a disastrous decision. Whilst the Liberals actually increased their share of seats by five, Steel himself would lose his seat in the Scottish borders to Labour after the Scottish Nationalists split the vote by just enough to trigger his defeat. Humiliated by his own electorate in one of the most memorable moments in election night history, Steel had no choice but to resign from his position. What followed was a tense period of negotiation; it was clear that as only fifteen seats had changed hands the coalition government was to stay, but the Liberals quickly nominated Meadowcroft as their leader after Benn declined the Prime Ministership. The working relationship between the two figures was much clearer than the previous government, as Benn respected Meadowcroft's personal desire for an independent Liberal identity whilst continuing to mould Labour not necessarily as the party of government but rather the party of 'responsible morality'.
[10] The 1991 election was momentous; Benn had been succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn (a leftist protege and a developing icon of the Benn tendency), and Labour decimated their Liberal allies at the polls. The Conservatives survived a minor hammering, but Meadowcroft was forced to resign from his position after such a devastating loss. Corbyn, however, formed a minority government after the new Liberal leader (Shirley Williams) declined to continue the coalition on new terms, instead trying to repair the damage done to the Liberals.
[11] Without the direct support of the Liberal Party, Corbyn's ambitious minority government proved to be ineffective and short-lived. Failing to live up to many of his promises and under increasing pressure after his state visit to meet the new USSR President Gennady Yanayev only weeks after the latter's coup d'état against Mikhail Gorbachev, Corbyn resigns after less than seven months in office. In a surprising turn of events, Labour's grey eminence Tony Benn is persuaded to return out of his semi-retirement and once again take over the leadership of the Labour Party. After difficult coalition negotiations between Labour and the Liberals, the party leaders Benn and Williams eventually reach a compromise that includes the promise of another FPTP referendum before the end of 1992.
[12] The referendum, despite the best wishes of all involved, tore the Labour/Liberal coalition apart. The strong-headed leftism of Benn grated with the more moderate Liberals (especially as the Williams Reform created a vocal and prominent 'new Liberal' faction within the party), and ill-considered comments from former PM Corbyn - stating at the height of sympathetic opinion polls for Proportional Representation that at the rate Britain was going it would 'abolish the monarchy in ten years' - made it all the worse when the referendum failed. With Benn and Williams growing increasingly isolated from each other (especially after the success of the Liberals at the Vauxhall by-election a week after the referendum), the coalition eventually collapsed. With neither Labour (now having lost Benn as leader for a second time) and the Liberals wishing to continue the government, Conservative leader Malcolm Rifkind - with a more traditional view of British values and commitments - took the reigns at the request of the Queen, but at the helm of a weak government with little scope for improvement. As such, Rifkind called an election for 1994 hoping that the leftist argument would continue and return the 'Tories to Downing Street.
[13] Malcolm Rifkind's decision to call a general election in 1994 came at a time of great public dissatisfaction with the chronic instability of the Liberal-Labor coalitions. He used this, a mid campaign health scare for Labor leader John Smith, and the general sense of optimism about the slowly improving economy that had been in recession for much of the early 90's, to gain a majority in Parliament in an larger than anticipated victory over Labor's Smith and the Liberals, still led by Shirley Williams, in the 1994 general election. The election resulted in both opposition figures resigning as leaders of their respective parties. With the Labor leadership up for grabs, Jeremy Corbyn set his eyes on #10 once again...
[14] Former Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn returned to the Labour leadership at the end of 1994 upon the resignation of John Smith following the election defeat and his health issues. It was a fraught leadership campaign where upon Corbyn only narrowly prevailed against Shadow Home Secretary Jack Cunningham, with the factor of Corbyn's disastrous seven month premiership turning off many former supporters, though not enough for Corbyn to lose. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Rifkind set about the business of majority government with what many termed cautious but sensible policies and practices. He pursued an interventionist foreign policy where he could, though avoiding the more neoconserative foreign policy thinking from some in Washington and his own party. Economically he pursued policies in the vein of the Prior and Howe governments and domestically Rifkind's government oversaw further reforms to the NHS, schools and local government. Whilst the Rifkind government lacked the bold vision and message of some of its predecessors, its efficiency and pragmatism won voters in marginal seats and thus when an election was called for 1998, Rifkind was again re-elected with a healthy parliamentary majority. In the wake of the result, Corbyn refused to resign the Labour leadership...
1974: Edward Heath (Conservative/Liberal) [1]
1977 (January): Edward Heath (Conservative minority) [2]
1977 (April): Edward Heath (Conservative minority) [3]
1977 (June): Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1980: Jim Prior (Conservative) [5]
1981: Jim Prior (Conservative) [6]
1985 (February): Geoffrey Howe (Conservative) [7]
1985 (October): David Steel (Liberal/Labour) [8]
1987: Michael Meadowcroft (Liberal/Labour) [9]
1991 (May): Jeremy Corbyn (Labour minority) [10]
1991 (December): Tony Benn (Labour/Liberal) [11]
1993: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative minority) [12]
1994: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative) [13]
1998: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative) [14]
[1] The 1974 election resulted in an unexpectedly poor result for the Conservatives, and Edward Heath found himself as the main protagonist of a hung parliament. Reluctant to enter into coalition negotiations with the equally unsympathetic Liberals, Heath nevertheless wanted a Conservative-driven success in the long-fought goal for British EEC membership and therefore fought for a coalition with Thorpe in good faith. In the end, Heath promised a national referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) - a major concession that the Liberals could not refuse. In truth, however, Heath was confident that the referendum would result in a FPTP victory and that any potential Conference on the issue would come to a similar conclusion.
[2] After the "Yes to FPTP" side won the 1976 referendum, it was quite clear that the Liberals - growing restless over the Conservatives' heavy-handed approach in Northern Ireland and the squabbles between One Nation and monetarist Tories in Cabinet - could not hold the coalition together for much longer. When Jeremy Thorpe was taken to court over an alleged murder attempt after the referendum, the Liberals found their position in the coalition totally untenable and withdrew under Jo Grimond in January 1977. Heath was left with a minority government and, it was believed, planned to go ahead with a March or April election later that year.
[3] The April election was again a close contest, and again resulted in a hung parliament with Heath at the top. The deadlock was deeply frustrating for the Prime Minister, who found the Liberals no longer willing to return their support and a deeply-hostile Labour Party under Michael Foot. And so, in an unprecedented move, the country went to the polls for a second 1977 election.
[4] Heath continues to defy expectations, repeating the success of his 1970 victory with a surprisingly clear majority of 29. Running on a slogan of 'Who Governs Britain?' (i.e. a strong Conservative government versus Liberals holding the government hostage), Heath offers an agenda of reform, a new 'Industrial Charter', with reforms of employment legislation, accompanied by incomes policy. He also pledges to sign the UK up to new plans for a European Monetary System. The Labour Party is greatly harmed in the election by its leader Michael Foot and his position on the nuclear deterrent. The election is also marked by a strong performance of the National Front who pick up a considerable protest vote of 6%, causing significant concern.
[5] After a decade in office, Heath decided to retire whilst Labour entered into its second post-'77 leadership election so that his successor might hit the ground running. In a bitter contest between Jim Prior (the Heathite heir) and Nicholas Ridley (the standard-bearer of the monetarist Right), Prior succeeded and set about reconciling the government and the embittered trade unions whilst attempting to integrate Britain further into the EEC.
[6] With Labour continuing to self-destruct in the battle for factional supremacy, Prior was returned to Downing Street after taking the country to the polls early in 1981 over a strengthening Liberal Party (that won 30 seats). As Europe came closer together, the City of London continued plans to become the central conurbation for the European Monetary System and Prior set about on a controversial yet practical plan to compensate the unions for substantial reform to British industry and industrial policy.
[7] While the City of London flourished as the de facto commercial capital of the EEC following the creation of the European Monetary Institute in 1984, the public started to grow increasingly weary of Prior's Conservative administration, which many perceived as a clique of cold accountants at a time when a more balanced and just course of action was so desperately needed. When Prior's 'Middle Way' trade union law reform plan is soundly rejected by the so-called 'New Right' in the party, he is openly challenged for leadership by Foreign Secretary Margaret Thatcher. Demoralised by the loss of support, Prior resigns from his office as party leader and steps down as Prime Minister. Having overestimated the support she would receive by the party's Right, Thatcher loses the leadership election against Geoffrey Howe and retires from her political career.
[8] Trying to capitalise on the strong economic growth during the last 15 years of Conservative government, Howe's calling of an early election leads to a most unexpected outcome. While retaining the status as the largest party in parliament, the Conservatives fall short of reaching a majority and lose many seats to a surging Liberal Party. Running on a platform of 'Healing the Country', the Liberals are able to pick up many votes from disaffected Conservative voters in Scotland and North England, and, by promising to fight the widening gap between the rich and the poor, can secure the support of the now smaller but stabilised Labour Party under the leadership of the charismatic and dynamic Tony Benn in order to create a coalition government that has a narrow majority of just seven seats in parliament.
[9] Steel, as leader of a very narrow coalition government, almost immediately began to run into trouble. Many of the true left of the Labour Party opposed the Liberal commitment to a stronger Europe, and again the government faced resistance for limited proposals for devolution for Scotland and Wales. Ultimately, however, it was the attempt to abolish the nuclear deterrent and also implement AV voting that mortally wounded the government; having lost two of his key policy pledges within the first years of his government, Steel was forced to call an election. From a personal perspective, it was a disastrous decision. Whilst the Liberals actually increased their share of seats by five, Steel himself would lose his seat in the Scottish borders to Labour after the Scottish Nationalists split the vote by just enough to trigger his defeat. Humiliated by his own electorate in one of the most memorable moments in election night history, Steel had no choice but to resign from his position. What followed was a tense period of negotiation; it was clear that as only fifteen seats had changed hands the coalition government was to stay, but the Liberals quickly nominated Meadowcroft as their leader after Benn declined the Prime Ministership. The working relationship between the two figures was much clearer than the previous government, as Benn respected Meadowcroft's personal desire for an independent Liberal identity whilst continuing to mould Labour not necessarily as the party of government but rather the party of 'responsible morality'.
[10] The 1991 election was momentous; Benn had been succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn (a leftist protege and a developing icon of the Benn tendency), and Labour decimated their Liberal allies at the polls. The Conservatives survived a minor hammering, but Meadowcroft was forced to resign from his position after such a devastating loss. Corbyn, however, formed a minority government after the new Liberal leader (Shirley Williams) declined to continue the coalition on new terms, instead trying to repair the damage done to the Liberals.
[11] Without the direct support of the Liberal Party, Corbyn's ambitious minority government proved to be ineffective and short-lived. Failing to live up to many of his promises and under increasing pressure after his state visit to meet the new USSR President Gennady Yanayev only weeks after the latter's coup d'état against Mikhail Gorbachev, Corbyn resigns after less than seven months in office. In a surprising turn of events, Labour's grey eminence Tony Benn is persuaded to return out of his semi-retirement and once again take over the leadership of the Labour Party. After difficult coalition negotiations between Labour and the Liberals, the party leaders Benn and Williams eventually reach a compromise that includes the promise of another FPTP referendum before the end of 1992.
[12] The referendum, despite the best wishes of all involved, tore the Labour/Liberal coalition apart. The strong-headed leftism of Benn grated with the more moderate Liberals (especially as the Williams Reform created a vocal and prominent 'new Liberal' faction within the party), and ill-considered comments from former PM Corbyn - stating at the height of sympathetic opinion polls for Proportional Representation that at the rate Britain was going it would 'abolish the monarchy in ten years' - made it all the worse when the referendum failed. With Benn and Williams growing increasingly isolated from each other (especially after the success of the Liberals at the Vauxhall by-election a week after the referendum), the coalition eventually collapsed. With neither Labour (now having lost Benn as leader for a second time) and the Liberals wishing to continue the government, Conservative leader Malcolm Rifkind - with a more traditional view of British values and commitments - took the reigns at the request of the Queen, but at the helm of a weak government with little scope for improvement. As such, Rifkind called an election for 1994 hoping that the leftist argument would continue and return the 'Tories to Downing Street.
[13] Malcolm Rifkind's decision to call a general election in 1994 came at a time of great public dissatisfaction with the chronic instability of the Liberal-Labor coalitions. He used this, a mid campaign health scare for Labor leader John Smith, and the general sense of optimism about the slowly improving economy that had been in recession for much of the early 90's, to gain a majority in Parliament in an larger than anticipated victory over Labor's Smith and the Liberals, still led by Shirley Williams, in the 1994 general election. The election resulted in both opposition figures resigning as leaders of their respective parties. With the Labor leadership up for grabs, Jeremy Corbyn set his eyes on #10 once again...
[14] Former Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn returned to the Labour leadership at the end of 1994 upon the resignation of John Smith following the election defeat and his health issues. It was a fraught leadership campaign where upon Corbyn only narrowly prevailed against Shadow Home Secretary Jack Cunningham, with the factor of Corbyn's disastrous seven month premiership turning off many former supporters, though not enough for Corbyn to lose. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Rifkind set about the business of majority government with what many termed cautious but sensible policies and practices. He pursued an interventionist foreign policy where he could, though avoiding the more neoconserative foreign policy thinking from some in Washington and his own party. Economically he pursued policies in the vein of the Prior and Howe governments and domestically Rifkind's government oversaw further reforms to the NHS, schools and local government. Whilst the Rifkind government lacked the bold vision and message of some of its predecessors, its efficiency and pragmatism won voters in marginal seats and thus when an election was called for 1998, Rifkind was again re-elected with a healthy parliamentary majority. In the wake of the result, Corbyn refused to resign the Labour leadership...
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