It may be no accident that John McDonnell – one of the principal architects of Labour’s remarkable resurgence – and Jeremy Corbyn sound like they’ve been following the 1974 example, the last time Britain had a hung parliament and the formation of a minority government. They’re of an age to remember it well. McDonnell often speaks of it. They’ve been doing their history homework.
You can see the attractions of this story from long ago, and some uncanny parallels. The then Tory prime minister, Ted Heath, had a reputation of buckling under pressure, chaotic decision-making and a taste for U-turns, an interesting echo from history. Faced with a miners’ strike, he decided to strengthen his mandate – he already had a working majority of 40 plus and another 18 months for his government to run – so called an early snap election. He asked the question “Who Governs Britain?” so he could take on the unions; just like May wanted one to take on the EU. Both found that the British public decided the general election wasn’t going to be about that but rather about the economy, public services and the usual issues. Labour won on a pretty left-wing manifesto.
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