Echoes of past for May minority and Brexit makes it double trouble

On March 28 1979, Prime Minister Jim Callaghan (pictured right) lost a vote of confidence in the House of Commons, triggering the general election that brought Margaret Thatcher to power. It was a devastating day for the Labour Party, but to many it was remarkable that the end had not come earlier given the lack of a Commons majority for so much of the time of the Parliament elected in October 1974.

Harold Wilson had won that election but with the wafer-thin majority of four seats, and most commentators spent their time speculating on the date of the next election. Four and a half years later they got that date.

James Graham, the talented young playwright, encapsulated the events and aura of that time in This House, which won critical acclaim and seems to have been seen by almost everyone interested in politics and political history. I have been asked time and time again, ‘Was it really like that, so frantic, so knife edge, so unpredictable?’ The answer is YES. It absolutely was. And of course everyone is now asking if it will be the same for the minority May Government.

Actually, I do believe that the problems we faced in the Seventies will be there again – demands on ministers and government backbenchers to be in Westminster all the time will be immense, there will be a terror of internal rebellions on the government side, and the inevitable requests/ demands from any allies propping up the Government.

In the 1970s we lost 19 Labour members, some of whom died as a result of doing their “duty” and turning up to vote when – in normal circumstances – their health would have required them to be at home or even in hospital. And it is true that we sometimes had members in ambulances in New Palace Yard with Opposition whips checking they were there and alive before allowing them to be “nodded through” the division lobby.

We also had to cope with ambushes from the Opposition parties, but these were always thwarted by good persuasive techniques by Labour whips and the incredible sixth sense of Labour’s Deputy Chief Whip, Walter Harrison, who could smell a plot even before the

‘In the Seventies, MPS risked health, marriages, even their lives to keep Labour in power’

Opposition had started to plan it.

He even knew how to interpret the parking pattern of Tory MPS in the Commons car park!

In government, we “looked after” certain Irish MPS when they came over to vote and found it difficult to believe that this would not work on the last day. We bargained with small groups, balancing their demands against their fear of losing their seats – and in the end the SNP were the proverbial turkeys voting for Christmas.

All of these problems will face the Government that presents its Queen’s Speech on Wednesday. Nevertheless, difficult as it might be, everyone knows from the 1970s that survival is possible (though I am sure I am not insulting any Tory whips when I say they won’t have a Walter Harrison to see them through this).

However, this time there is, I believe, an added dimension of difficulty that has to be superimposed on the basic problems of minority government. In effect, the problems that John Major faced over the Maastricht legislation are now going to return as Brexit unfolds and will undoubtedly exacerbate the difficulties facing the whips. Theresa May and her whips will face a double whammy of challenges.

We did, in the 1970s, have some problems of internal party management – 1978-79 was indeed the Winter of Discontent. But we had nothing as severe as the problems caused by John Major’s “b-------’” and Brexit will see a variation on the themes that were so dominant then.

I rarely bet and I certainly will not predict how this will turn out, tempting though that is. We can guarantee that politics will remain interesting and maybe more entertaining than is good for democracy.

But times do change. In the 1970s, Labour MPS risked their health, their marriages, even their lives to keep Labour in government, delivering its policies despite all the challenges.

I am not sure how many on the current Government benches will show such devotion.

Ann Taylor was Labour MP for Bolton West from 1974 until 1983, then Assistant Government Whip. She entered the House of Lords in 2005.