RP: UK general election, February 1974

UK Votes: 28 February 1974


  • Total voters
    37
Incumbent Prime Minister: Edward Heath (Con)

Standings at dissolution

Conservative: 330 seats
Labour: 269 seats
Liberal: 6 seats
Other: 14 seats

I am voting Liberal again. Ted Heath hasn't fixed the economy, abandoned the Selsdon manifesto at the first hint of unpopularity, cowered in the face of lawless unions, and caused severe damage to Anglo-American and US-Commonwealth relations. Thank goodness there is an upcoming referendum on the EEC, and I will be joining many in both parties in voting NO. Harold Wilson helped create this mess in domestic policy, and if the Tories can't stand up to the unions, there's zero chance of Labour doing so. Therefore I'm voting for Mr Thorpe's Liberals, who might have a solution to our woes. We need a choice in Britain, not faint echoes, which is the case for both major parties in Parliament right now.
 
Thank goodness there is an upcoming referendum on the EEC, and I will be joining many in both parties in voting NO.
So you are voting Labour then, considering they are the only party committed to holding a referendum?
RogueBeaver said:
(Ted Heath) cowered in the face of lawless unions
Really? I'd like an example of the unions breaking the law during this period. Indeed, is he not going to the polls on a 'who governs Britain' ticket? Is this 'cowering to the unions?'
RoguieBeaver said:
Harold Wilson helped create this mess in domestic policy, and if the Tories can't stand up to the unions, there's zero chance of Labour doing so.
Again, you are ignoring the reason Heath is going to the country, and this blithely assumes the unions are the major issue.

Prices are going up due to decimalisation, and the miners not being given a fair deal. Compromise is needed, not union-bashing, and Labour will bring in a commission, composed of the NCB, the NUM and the government in a bid to find a solution.

All Heath has done is stand whistling in the wind, ignoring compromise whilst a solution is needed and we are reduced to a three day week due to lack of energy supply.
 
OOC/TR: I second that.

IC: All I want is for Heath to fully implement the Selsdon manifesto and enact its provisions into law. I am thoroughly disgusted with the Conservative Party and hope they get a new leader soon. Since when has Clause IV been part of the Conservative manifesto? A Tory government should be denationalizing, not nationalising.
 

abc123

Banned
Is it possible not to vote for any of those parties? They all are disaster for UK in that time...
:rolleyes:
 
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OOC: ^ A thousand times this. But in retrospect, 1974 is definitely a "none of the above" year.

Meh, if Labour had gone for a right-winger after Wilson resigned rather than the compromise candidature Callaghan represented (allowing your favourite turncoat David Owen to continue to rise through the ranks) then the country could still have started to recover from the stagnation era with slightly less ideological zeal than Mrs. Thatcher's government managed.

For the record, I'll be supporting Labour while hoping for an influx of moderate liberalism (as seems likely) and hopefully some proposed Trade Union reform (something like Castle's "In Place of Strife" would be wonderful).

As Fletcher points out, if you're not happy with the EEC then vote Labour, they are the only ones that are offering even a slight way out of the Brussels quagmire.
 
IC: I will, albeit very reluctantly, vote for Mr Wilson's Labour, even though I am a member of the Tory party. At least he will undo the foreign policy damage Heath has wrought, and I will not vote Tory unless they get a new leader who is not a One National.
 
Heath was a mistake. We're in for rough times ahead thanks to him selling out our oil. Wonder if its not too late to undo his dodgy deal.
Labour all the way.
 
Polling day, 28 February

630 Commons seats

Labour: 401 seats (+132)
Conservative: 167 seats (-163)
Liberal: 56 seats (+50)
Other: 6 seats

Incumbent Prime Minister: Ted Heath (Con)
Subsequent Prime Minister: Harold Wilson (Lab)

OOC: Get me an airline ticket to Singapore, stat.
 
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