February 1974 United Kingdom general election

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A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 28 February 1974. The Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained seats, and became the largest party, but was short of an overall majority. The governing Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost seats, even though it polled a higher vote share than Labour. This resulted in the first hung parliament since 1929. Heath sought a coalition with the Liberals, but the two parties failed to come to an agreement and so Wilson became prime minister for a second time, his first with a minority government. Wilson called another early election in September, which was held in October and resulted in a Labour majority. The February election was also the first general election to be held with the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Communities (EC), which was widely known as the "Common Market". Its results saw Northern Ireland diverging heavily from the rest of the United Kingdom, with...

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