Word: resignations
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Under the unwritten rules of the British constitution, Heath did not necessarily have to resign if the other party failed to get a majority. But Harold Wilson had historical precedent on his side in contending that it was his right to form the next government-indeed, never before in similar circumstances had a British Prime Minister refused to step down. As Heath sat silent in No.10 Downing Street, Wilson issued a terse statement from Labor headquarters a few blocks away. Underscoring the urgent need for a government that could deal promptly and decisively with the coal miners' strike...
Rumored Ploy. Heath remained closeted all day with his chief advisers, struggling desperately to work out a successful strategy. One rumored ploy: Heath would resign and pass the party leadership-and prime ministership -to William Whitelaw, his Employment Secretary and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The theory was that the popular Whitelaw might be a more acceptable choice to hold the Tories in power than Heath. Finally, just before 8 p.m., Heath made the short journey to Buckingham Palace, where he informed the Queen that he intended to explore ways of carrying on his administration...
...would seem an almost impossible task. Heath had sought a larger mandate to deal with the miners and inflation; he was stunningly rebuffed. To many Britons, Conservatives as well as Laborites, his refusal to resign not only smacked of opportunism but risked intensifying divisions in the country. Wrote Peter Jenkins in the Guardian: "Nothing in his term of office so ill becomes him like his leaving...
...several months, French political pundits have been forecasting the imminent demise of ineffective Gaullist Premier Pierre Messmer. Last week Messmer did indeed resign, along with his entire government, only to be replaced six hours later by none other than Pierre Messmer. Although the number of Ministers in the new Cabinet had been trimmed from 23 to 16 in the name of "cohesion," the major portfolios -economy and foreign policy-remained in familiar hands. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing continues as Finance Minister. Michel Jobert remains as Foreign Minister. So why the reshuffle...
...reason for the change was Pompidou's determination to persuade his disenchanted countrymen that the regime plans to attack actively such major problems as inflation and mounting labor unrest. Still another aim, most observers suspect, is the determination of the President-who many Frenchmen believe will resign before the 1976 elections because of his ill health-to keep firm control of the government. By re-appointing Messmer, Pompidou made it clear that he is not yet ready to anoint a possible successor...