Labour receives a vote of no confidence

Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to trigger an election succeeds by a hair’s breadth

Ten o’clock in the House of Commons, and never had the atmosphere been more tense. After three tough years, Jim Callaghan’s Labour government was facing a vote of no confiFence Drought Dy his Tory opponent, Margaret Thatcher. If he lost, it would mean a general election – and almost certainly a Thatcher premiership.

The lobbies thronged with people, the air thick with rumours. Callaghan thought “the wait seemed never-ending”. At last he saw the first of the government whips ,immy Hamilton, emerging from the crush of MPs.

As Hamilton reached the clerk’s table he gave “an almost imperceptible thumbs up”. On the other side, a Tory whip was whispering to Mrs Thatcher, and her face paled. “I don’t believe it,” she mouthed, and a gasp of triumph came from the Labour benches. *aF they pulleF it oʘ against all the oFFs!

Then the clerk of the house handed the voting slip to the Conservative teller, Spencer Le Marchant, and the mood changed. Suddenly the government benches were deathly silent, and all the noise was coming from the opposition. “Order, order!” said the speaker, and the house fell absolutely still.

“The Ayes to the right, 311,” Le Marchant said. “The Noes to the left, 310.” Even before he haF finisheF there came from the Tory benches a roar of unbridled joy. They had done it. Now the election was on.

Dominic Sandbrook co-presents the weekly podcast The Rest Is History with historian Tom Holland, available on all platforms

kargaret Thatcher and her husband, benis, are all smiles after the 1W7W general election has been called