Great Britain: Backbench Revolt

When Edward Heath served as a parliamentary whip under Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Tories squeaked through a vote by a particularly thin margin, the old man comforted the younger: "In the House of Commons, one vote is enough." Last week Ted Heath, now President of the Board of Trade, had the uncomfortable opportunity to test that axiom. The Tories, who nowadays can usually muster a majority of 80 votes or so, just barely managed to survive a vote by the wafer-thin margin of 204 to 203.

The vote came over the...

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