With the two main parties having a roughly equal number of seats and with neither having a majority of the whole House, he has not got the renewed mandate for which he asked. But the Labour party has not got a mandate for the policies which it advocated, and Mr. Wilson has no right to pose as if it had.
In a shifting and uncertain situation one thing seems reasonably sure. The election campaign has made the public fully aware of its gravity, and they are prepared for a temporary standstill in the standard of living and whatever austerity measures are necessary.
Sunday Telegraph leader article, 03/03/1974, commenting on the results of the February 1974 general election, held on 28/02/1974.
An Arrangement with the Liberals would in any case be insufficiently stable, and Mr Thorpe seemed to be asking too much and offering too little... and a decision to face Parliament without guaranteed support to provide an overall majority would seem to many to be a discreditable attempt to hold on to power
Cabinet conclusions, 04/03/1974.
All of a sudden, the 1970s don't feel quite as far away as they used to...
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