Will this be 1974 all over again?

PARALLELS were drawn between yesterday’s election and 1974, when Tory prime minister Ted Heath called an election asking for a mandate to take on militant trade unions.

Similarly, Theresa May went to the polls asking for voters to give her a strong mandate in Brexit talks. Both decisions backfired. In February 1974, Labour won 301 seats to the Tories’ 297 – the first hung parliament since the Second World War. Harold Wilson formed a minority Labour government, then called a second election in October, and won.

There was speculation yesterday that Britain may have to vote again later this year. As results came in former shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: ‘This looks like 1974. A Conservative prime minister who didn’t need to call an election … given a real kicking.’