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The 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 28 February 1974. The Conservative Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost 28 seats, but achieved a higher share of the vote than Labour. The Labour Party, led by Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained 14 seats to narrowly become the largest party in the commons, but was 17 short of an overall majority. This resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1929.
After persuading Northern Ireland's Unionist MPs to support a Conservative government, Heath formed a coalition with Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe in exchange for implementing a new proportional representation electoral system. This resulted in Heath remaining Prime Minister and Thorpe being elected Deputy Prime Minister.
Wilson announced his resignation immediately after the election, and was replaced by James Callaghan. Liberal Democrats leader and Deputy Prime Minister Jeremy Thorpe also resigned in 1976, and was replaced by David Steele. Heath narrowly fended off a leadership challenge from right-wing Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher in 1975.