Skip to main content
GOV.UK
Blog History of government
Organisations:
The National Archives, Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street

Hung Parliament - February 1974

Posted by: Mark Dunton, Posted on: 28 February 2014 - Categories: Cabinet Secretaries, Prime Ministers and No. 10, The National Archives
Cabinet: Confidential Annex, CAB 128/53, CM (74) 9th Conclusions. Friday 1 March at 5.45 pm. Agenda item: The Situation Following the General Election. The Prime Minister said that the result of the General Election was disappointing for the Government and also confusing to interpret. Although a number of results were still outstanding it was clear that no one Party would be able to command an overall majority. The Labour Party could not get more than 301 seats and the Conservatives might obtain as many as 299; and it was difficult to forecast where the Liberals and other small parties would stand in such a situation. Indeed, the position was one without precedent in recent times.

Speaking personally, I love it when BBC Parliament re-shows general election television coverage in order to mark general election anniversaries, and I know I'm not alone with my enthusiasm. You see the story of the election unfold, 'in real time' …

Read more of Hung Parliament - February 1974

Related content and links

History of government

This blog gives insights into the history of government – its development, its departments and some of the roles and people involved. Find out more.

Categories

Contributors include:

  • The No 10 Guest Historian series
  • The Cabinet Confidential series

Sign up and manage updates

  • Email
  • Atom

Follow us

  • The National Archives on Twitter
  • The National Archives on Facebook
  • FCDO historians on Twitter
  • History & Policy on Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Filling ‘the hole in the centre’: The No.10 Policy Unit – 50 years on 2 May 2024
  • The founding of the NHS: 75 years on 13 July 2023
  • Visiting the secret state: Margaret Thatcher and Intelligence 21 December 2022
  • What the Butler saw: Britain and the Abadan Crisis, 1950-51 7 December 2022
  • Curzon's comeuppance 25 November 2022

Comments and moderation

Read our guidelines

Useful links

  • All GOV.UK blogs
  • All GOV.UK blog posts
  • GOV.UK
  • All departments
  • Accessibility statement
  • Cookies
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright