'Asking too much and offering too little'? The Conservative-Liberal coalition talks of 1-4 March 1974

Dorey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2763-1622 2008. 'Asking too much and offering too little'? The Conservative-Liberal coalition talks of 1-4 March 1974. Journal of Liberal History (61) , pp. 28-37.

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Abstract

Recently released Cabinet papers have provided new insights into the March 1974 talks between Edward Heath and Jeremy Thorpe over a possible Conservative–Liberal coalition government. The author reexamines these talks, and notes that their failure went much deeper and wider than the disagreement over electoral reform. They were always hampered by a lack of support among MPs and grassroots members of both parties, convinced that the other was ‘asking too much and offering too little’ in return. Even if the talks had succeeded, the two leaders would have encountered a lack of support from their parliamentary colleagues.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Uncontrolled Keywords:	British Conservatism; Conservative Party since 1945; British Politics since 1945
Publisher:	Liberal Democrat History Group
ISSN:	1479-9642
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 09:56
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/18860

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