The Political Scene

Abstract

In the way that it came about and in its outcome, the first general election of 1974 had broken away from the pattern of its predecessors. The February dissolution came unexpectedly; the Conservative government had, ironically, been looking forward to October 1974 as a date for going to the country. On February 28 the voters returned the first minority government since 1929 and gave support to third parties on a scale that raised questions about the continuance of the two-party system. Speculation focused on whether the second election would confirm the breakaway from the tradition established over the previous forty years or produce a return to normality. In the event, the October election did not answer the question decisively. On the one hand, it can be portrayed as a continuation of the February contest with the same contestants pursuing much the same arguments to a fairly similar result; on the other hand, it can be portrayed as a restoration of the status quo, as an orderly routine campaign leading to a secure one-party government in contrast to the rushed, divisive, unexpected scramble of six months before.