Editing Edward Heath (section)

===1974 general elections===
Heath tried to bolster his government by calling a [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election]] for 28 February 1974, using the election slogan "Who governs Britain?". The result of the election was inconclusive with no party gaining an overall majority in the House of Commons; the Conservatives had the most votes but Labour had slightly more seats. Heath began negotiations with [[Jeremy Thorpe]], leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], but when these failed, he resigned as prime minister on 4 March 1974, and was replaced by Wilson's minority Labour government, eventually confirmed, though with a tiny majority, in a second election in October.<ref>David E. Butler et al. ''The British General Election of February 1974'' (1975); David E. Butler et al. ''The British General Election of October 1974'' (1975)</ref> To date, Heath is the last British Prime Minister to have both assumed and lost their term of office by means of a general election.