- Location
- NYC (né Falkirk)
- Pronouns
- he/him
Inspired by my viewing of This House today, what if the Labour government had survived the no confidence vote of 28th March 1979?
The final tally was 311 Ayes (that the house had no confidence) to 310 Noes, a knife edge. Had the vote been a tie, it is probably Speaker George Thomas would have followed precedent and cast his deciding vote in favour of the status quo.
There are a number of possibilities for Labour to get one or two votes. Tory whip Jack Weatherill offered himself as a pair for the dying Labour MP Alfred Broughton, but was refused by his Labour opposite number Walter Harrison. Gerry Fitt of the SDLP and independent republican Frank McGuire both abstained, but any concessions given to them by Labour might have lost them the support of the two UUP votes they did receive. Clement Freud was offered a watered down FoI Act if he would miss his train to London, but refused.
What happens if the Callaghan government survives that night? An election was due by October 1979 anyway, and while Labour might be still likely to lose how would limping along for another six months have effected the results?
The final tally was 311 Ayes (that the house had no confidence) to 310 Noes, a knife edge. Had the vote been a tie, it is probably Speaker George Thomas would have followed precedent and cast his deciding vote in favour of the status quo.
There are a number of possibilities for Labour to get one or two votes. Tory whip Jack Weatherill offered himself as a pair for the dying Labour MP Alfred Broughton, but was refused by his Labour opposite number Walter Harrison. Gerry Fitt of the SDLP and independent republican Frank McGuire both abstained, but any concessions given to them by Labour might have lost them the support of the two UUP votes they did receive. Clement Freud was offered a watered down FoI Act if he would miss his train to London, but refused.
What happens if the Callaghan government survives that night? An election was due by October 1979 anyway, and while Labour might be still likely to lose how would limping along for another six months have effected the results?