{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1038\cocoasubrtf360 {\fonttbl\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Helvetica;} {\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;} \paperw11900\paperh16840\margl1440\margr1440\vieww9000\viewh8400\viewkind0 \pard\tx566\tx1133\tx1700\tx2267\tx2834\tx3401\tx3968\tx4535\tx5102\tx5669\tx6236\tx6803\ql\qnatural\pardirnatural \f0\fs24 \cf0 A history of hung parliaments\ \ A hung parliament is one in which no party gains an overall majority of seats in the House of Commons. For almost 33 years of the past century Britain has experienced either coalition or minority government rule.\ --------------------------------------------------------------\ 7 years\ \ 1915-22 - Coalition: David Lloyd George's Liberal Party forms coalition with Conservatives during World War 1\ \ 1922 - 23 - Conservative: Led by Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin\ \ 1923-24 Hung parliament: Labour Party led by James Ramsay MacDonald forms minority government supported by Liberals\ \ 1929-31 - Minority Labour: Ramsay MacDonald\ \ 2 years \ \ 1931-40 - Coalition: National Government led by Ramsay MacDonald, Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain\ \ 1940-45 Coalition: During Second World War Prime Minister Winston Churchill leads all - party War Cabinet of 13 Conservative ministers 8 Labour and 2 independents\ \ 5 years\ \ 1945 -51 - Labour: Electorate wanting end to wartime austerity elects government led by Clement Attlee\ \ 1951 - 64 - Conservative: Governments led by Churchill, Anthony Eden (1955 -), Harold Macmillan (1957-) and Alec Douglas - Home (1963 - )\ \ 1964 - 70 - Labour: Led by Harold Wilson. Only nine MPs are neither Labour or Conservative\ \ 1970 - 74 conservative: Edward Heath is PM\ \ 1974 - Hung: Wilson leads minority Labour government \ \ 32 weeks\ \ 1974 - 76 - Labour: Wilson has majority of three seats\ \ 1976 - 79 - Minority Labour: Prime Minister James Callaghan forms Lib - Lab pact\ \ 1979 - 97 - Conservative: Premiership of Margaret Thatcher (far right) lasts 11 years, six months and 24 days. Thatcher is followed by Prime Minister John Major (right) from 1990. Major leads minority government from December 1996 to May 1997.\ \ 1997 - 2010 New Labour: Governments led by Tony Blair (far left) and Gordon Brown from June 2007\ \ 2010 - 15 - Hung: Prime Minister David Cameron (left) leads coalition with 16 Conservatives and five Liberal Democrats in Cabinet\ \ MPs neither Labour nor Conservative now at 92\ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ Source Hansard Society \ \ Pictures: Associated Press \ \ words 326\ }