1979 vote of no confidence against the government of James Callaghan

A vote of no confidence in the British Labour Government of James Callaghan occurred on 28 March 1979. The vote was brought by Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and was lost by the Labour Government by one vote (311 votes to 310), which was announced at 10:19 pm, forcing a general election which was won by Thatcher's party. The last time an election had been forced by the House of Commons was in 1924, when Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour Prime Minister, lost a vote of confidence. Labour politician Roy Hattersley was later to remark that the vote marked "the last rites" of 'old Labour'. Labour would not return to government for another 18 years. The BBC has referred to the vote as "one of the most dramatic nights in Westminster history".