Labour achieves a bigger and stable majority in October 1974

[greenhert]

What if Labour had achieved a bigger and stable majority in October 1974, rather than the miserly majority of 3 they managed that year?

As I stated in my blog in 2014: greensocialistalan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/political-history-for-few-hundred-votes.html Labour missed out on eight extra seats from the Conservatives by margins of 1% or less. All Labour needed was a few thousand extra votes in the right places to have a stable majority which would not result in any Lib-Lab pact or vote of no confidence.

[The Bishop]

I wonder if a somewhat bigger majority would have made all that much difference in the end.

An election had to be held by autumn 1979 anyway, and the defining event that doomed that Labour government - the WoD - might well still have happened in some form.

[greenhert]

What about the effects on other political parties, though?

The Lib-Lab pact did a large amount of damage to the Liberal Party, to the point where they dropped to as low as 6% in opinion polls. The SNP lost out a lot mainly because they sided with the Conservatives when the vote of no confidence came in 1979 in protest at Labour's failure to deliver on devolution.

[Deleted]

If Labour had a stronger and stabler majority in Oct 1974 then I imagine Thatcher's ascent to power would've been delayed by 5 months.

[greenchristian]

What about if it had gone the other way? What if it was Heath, not Wilson, who emerged with the tiny majority?

[albion]

Aug 4, 2017 16:17:43 GMT greenchristian said:

What about if it had gone the other way? What if it was Heath, not Wilson, who emerged with the tiny majority?

Rejoice! Thatcher does not become Conservative leader and PM.