In the brief period between elections on 28 February and 10 October Labour could point to steady progress.
Inflation may have been running at around 20%, but the miners’ strike had been resolved and the state of emergency imposed by Heath had ended.
In the hope of extracting some of the thorns from the now perennial problem of industrial relations the Pay Board was abolished and the Tories’ Industrial Relations Act was scrapped
Chancellor Denis Healey put through two steady budgets which saw an increase in pensions, but also an increase in the basic rate of income tax and top rate income tax.
Tory leader Edward Heath kept a relatively low profile after his defeat in February. It had been a massive blow to his position, but the Tory party stayed his political execution, fearing a change of leadership with an election imminent.