Have courage, Theresa May: I survived a minority government, and so can you

Minority government is a grind, with the Whips’ Office becoming more important than the great offices of state. From February 1974 to May 1979, I saw the inner workings of the last minority administration to survive more than a few months. Few of us Labour MPs thought it would last as long as it did. The lesson is that voters expect Parliament to live with the result they voted for.

21 JUNE 2017 • 8:25PM
DAVID OWEN

The author, Lord Owen, who served under Harold Wilson in the 1970s CREDIT: JEFF GILBERT

After the election in October 1974 gave Labour a three seat majority, Harold Wilson was surprised to be in No 10 again. He was in a more powerful position than Theresa May is in now, but like her he was not up for the long haul. He had a very personal target, however: to deliver the promised referendum on membership of the Common Market and have the result generally accepted. This he achieved in June 1975. Theresa May’s personal target is to deliver an agreement to leave the EU by October 2018, the date Michel...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/21/have-courage-theresa-may-survived-minority-government-can/