Labour government, 1974–1979

The Labour Party governed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1974 to 1979. During this period, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan were successively appointed as Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth II. The end of the Callaghan ministry was presaged by the Winter of Discontent, a period of serious industrial discontent. This was followed by the election of Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan states: The fall of James Callaghan in the summer of 1979 meant, according to most commentators across the political spectrum, the end of an ancien régime, a system of corporatism, Keynesian spending programmes, subsidised welfare, and trade union power. The government consisted of three ministries: the third and fourth Wilson ministry, and then the Callaghan ministry. TOC After the February 1974 general election, no party had a majority of seats. The incumbent Conservative Party won the popular vote, but Labour took a plurality of seats. Edward Heath, the Conservative Prime Minister, attempted to negotiate a coalition agreement with the Liberal Party, but resigned as Prime Minister after failing to do so. The Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, then established a minority government, which took office on 4 March 1974. It was recognised that this had no long-term stability, and that another general election was likely within a few months. On 20 September Wilson called another general election for 10 October, which resulted in a narrow victory for the Labour Party with a majority of three seats. The economy was in recession by the time of the February 1974 election, but economic growth was re-established by 1976—although inflation, which had run into double digits before Labour came to power, was now above 20%. It would remain high for the rest of this ministry, rarely falling below 10%. Unemployment was now well in excess of 1,000,000 people, whereas it had been less than 600,000 at the start of the decade.

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Related concepts (11)

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists, and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Official Opposition. There have been six Labour prime ministers and thirteen Labour ministries. Since the 2010 general election, it has been the second-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast, behind the Conservative Party and ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

Labour government, 1974–1979

Winter of Discontent

The Winter of Discontent was the period between November 1978 and February 1979 in the United Kingdom characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public, sector trade unions demanding pay rises greater than the limits Prime Minister James Callaghan and his Labour Party government had been imposing, against Trades Union Congress (TUC) opposition, to control inflation. Some of these industrial disputes caused great public inconvenience, exacerbated by the coldest winter in 16 years, in which severe storms isolated many remote areas of the country.