Editing James Callaghan (section)

===1979 general election===
{{main|1979 United Kingdom general election}}
The Winter of Discontent saw Labour's performance slump dramatically in the opinion polls. They had topped most of the pre-winter opinion polls by several points, but in February 1979 at least one opinion poll was showing the Conservatives 20 points ahead of Labour and it appeared inevitable that Labour would lose the forthcoming election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/ca.aspx?oItemId=193 |title=Comment & Analysis &#124; New Labour And Delivery |publisher=Ipsos MORI |date=15 May 2004|access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717025821/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/ca.aspx?oItemId=193 |archive-date=17 July 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In the buildup to the election, the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]'' supported Labour, while ''The Sun'', the ''[[Daily Mail]]'', the ''[[Daily Express]]'', and ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' supported the Conservatives.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support#zoomed-picture | work=The Guardian | first=Katy | last=Stoddard | title=Newspaper support in UK general elections | date=4 May 2010 | access-date=14 December 2016 | archive-date=1 August 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801141949/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support#zoomed-picture | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Votes by party in the 1979 vote of no confidence against the government of James Callaghan.png|left|thumb|Votes by party in the [[1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry]]. The motion passed by one vote.]]
On 28 March 1979, the House of Commons passed a [[1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry|motion of no-confidence by one vote]], 311–310, which forced Callaghan to call a [[1979 United Kingdom general election|general election]] which was held on 3 May.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid_2531000/2531007.stm |title=1979: Early election as Callaghan defeated |work=On this Day |access-date=29 March 2009 |date=28 March 1979 |archive-date=9 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209004131/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid_2531000/2531007.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Conservatives under [[Margaret Thatcher]] ran a campaign on the slogan "[[Labour Isn't Working]]". Although Callaghan remained personally more popular with the electorate than Thatcher, the Conservatives won the election with an overall majority of 43 seats.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election 1979 Results |url=https://www.electionpolling.co.uk/results/1979 |publisher=Election Polling |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Election of 1979 |url=https://thepoliticsteacherorg.thepoliticsteacher.org/home/a-and-as-politics-2017/unit-1-politics-in-the-uk-year-12--13/voting-behaviour-and-the-media/the-election-of-1979 |publisher=The Politics Shed |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> The Labour vote held up, with the party winning a similar number of votes to 1974, however the Conservatives benefited from a surge in turnout.<ref>{{cite web |title=General Election 1979 |url=https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/history/modern-britain/general-election-1979/ |publisher=StudySmarter |access-date=3 November 2024}}</ref>

During the 1979 election campaign, Callaghan detected a sea-change in public opinion, which he privately opined:<ref name="JCquotes">{{cite news |title=Jim Callaghan: A life in quotes |date=26 March 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3288907.stm |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref>

<blockquote> "You know there are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of. I suspect there is now such a sea change and it is for Mrs Thatcher." </blockquote>

After losing power in 1979, Labour spent the next 18 years in opposition, pejoratively described as the period in wilderness for the party.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3067563.stm | work=BBC News | first=Paul | last=Wilenius | title=Enemies within: Thatcher and the unions | date=5 March 2004 | access-date=6 May 2011 | archive-date=18 February 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218003411/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3067563.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>