United Kingdom
In February 1974, Conservative prime minister Edward Heath called a snap election for 28 February despite the deadline for an election being more than a year away. He urged British voters to "return a strong government with a firm mandate", but the election produced a hung parliament. The Tory government had the larger share of the vote, but the Labour opposition led by Harold Wilson had marginally more seats. Four days later, having failed to form a coalition with the Liberals, Heath resigned as prime minister and paved the way for Labour to return as a minority government under Wilson. Another election was held on 10 October that year, and Labour won by a three-seat majority.
Snap elections were eliminated by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.
Read more about this topic: Snap Elections
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
“In the United States the whites speak well of the Blacks but think bad about them, whereas the Blacks talk bad and think bad about the whites. Whites fear Blacks, because they have a bad conscience, and Blacks hate whites because they need not have a bad conscience.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 24:6-7.