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<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> BBC NEWS | VOTE2001 | THE ELECTION BATTLES 1945-1997 </TITLE>  <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" TYPE="text/css" HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/style.css">  <MAP NAME="top_bluenav"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="7,2,108,15" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/" ALT="BBC Homepage"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="113,2,150,14" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news" ALT="News"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="153,2,243,14" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml" ALT="World Service"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="247,3,286,14" HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/" ALT="Sport"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="291,4,359,14" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/home/" ALT="Education"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="363,3,409,14" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mybbc/" ALT="My BBC"> </MAP>  <MAP NAME="vote2001_nav"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="4,1,81,15" HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news" ALT="BBC News"> <AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="84,1,153,15" HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/default.stm" ALT="Vote 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BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="43" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=43 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=36 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=36 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG 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ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=36 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=36 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=36 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG 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HEIGHT=22></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="43" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/default.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('Introduction')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Introduction')" CLASS="nav">Intro</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1945_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1945')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1945</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1950_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1950')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1950</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1951_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1951')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1951</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1955_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1955')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1955</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1959_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1959')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1959</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1964_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1964')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1964</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1966_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1966')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1966</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1970_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1970')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1970</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><DIV CLASS="selected"><FONT SIZE="1">1974<BR>Feb</FONT></DIV></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974o_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1974 October')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1974<BR>0ct </A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1979_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1979')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1979 </A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1983_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1983')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1983 </A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1987_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1987')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1987 </A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1992_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1992')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1992 </A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399" WIDTH="36" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1997_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1997')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">1997</A></FONT></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=33><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=600 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD COLSPAN="23" BGCOLOR="#000033"><DIV ID="rollOver" CLASS="rollOver"><FONT SIZE="1">1974 February: On balance, Wilson wins</FONT></DIV></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD COLSPAN="3" ALIGN="center" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="68" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""><DIV><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1970_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1970')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">Back</A></FONT></DIV></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> <TD COLSPAN="3" ALIGN="center" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="68" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""><DIV><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974o_over.stm" onMouseOver="changerollOver('1974 October')" onMouseOut="changerollOver('Click on the years above')" CLASS="nav">Next</A></FONT></DIV></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" WIDTH="1"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="33"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/white_pix.gif" WIDTH=600 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BR> <TABLE WIDTH="600" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" BGCOLOR="#000033"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="145" VALIGN="top">  <TABLE WIDTH="142" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" BGCOLOR="#000033"> <TR> <TD BGCOLOR="#990000"><DIV CLASS="selected"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Overview</B></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974f_battle.stm" CLASS="nav"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Battlefield</B></FONT></A></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974f_camp.stm" CLASS="nav"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Campaign</B></FONT></A></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974f_person.stm" CLASS="nav"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Personalities</B></FONT></A></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974f_issues.stm" CLASS="nav"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Issues</B></FONT></A></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974f_results.stm" CLASS="nav"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/whitearrow.gif" WIDTH=4 HEIGHT=7 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Results</B></FONT></A></TD> </TR> </TABLE>  </TD> <TD WIDTH="305" VALIGN="top" CLASS="caption"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974febwilson.jpg" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=180 BORDER=0 ALT="1974 February"><BR>Wilson, back in control <P></TD> <TD WIDTH="150" ROWSPAN="2" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">  <TABLE WIDTH="150" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#990000"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF"><B>Watch and listen 1974 Feb</B></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/audio.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=11 BORDER=0 ALT="" VSPACE="2" HSPACE="2"></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">The highlights of election night from BBC Radio 1</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74feb_results.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">28k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/audio.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=11 BORDER=0 ALT="" VSPACE="2" HSPACE="2"></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">The miners' strike: Political leaders call for a settlement</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74miners_comments.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">28k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/video.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=9 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">Lancashire textile workers and the 3-day week</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">quicktime <A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974fqt_textile_workers.stm" CLASS="audiovideo">56k</A> real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74textile_workers.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">56k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/audio.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=11 BORDER=0 ALT="" VSPACE="2" HSPACE="2"></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">Heath "needed the miners' strike says Wilson</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74wilson_r1.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">28k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/audio.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=11 BORDER=0 ALT="" VSPACE="2" HSPACE="2"></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after negotiations with Heath</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74thorpe_negotiations.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">28k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#663399" VALIGN="top"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/video.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=9 HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#663399"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">Harold Wilson on the inconclusive results</FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="12" BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> <TD BGCOLOR="#9966CC"><DIV CLASS="audiotext"><FONT SIZE="1">quicktime <A HREF="/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1974fqt_result.stm" CLASS="audiovideo">56k</A> real <A HREF="/olmedia/cta/events01/ukpol/election/archive/1974feb/74wilson_result.ram" CLASS="audiovideo">56k</A></FONT></DIV></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN="2" BGCOLOR="#000033"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=4 BORDER=0 ALT=""></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </FONT></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD VALIGN="top"> </TD> <TD><DIV CLASS="maintext"><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF"> <P> Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath抯 decision to call a snap election in February 1974 backfired. <P> His plea to the electors to "return a strong government with a firm mandate" was ignored as Britain was faced with its first hung parliament since 1929. <P> Although Labour won fewer votes than the Conservatives, the party took four more seats, 301 against 297. After four days of indecision that saw Heath unable to convince the Liberals to lend him their support he had no choice but to resign. <P> Labour leader Harold Wilson was back in Downing Street for the third time, but now he would have to deal with the fresh challenge of heading a minority administration which could fall at any time. <P> </FONT></DIV><P><DIV CLASS="topictext"><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF"><A HREF="#top">^^ Back to top</A></FONT></DIV><P><A HREF="/hi/english/static/copyright.htm"><IMG SRC="/furniture/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/bbc_copyright.gif" WIDTH=76 HEIGHT=18 BORDER=0 ALT=""></A></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>