| Description | James Callaghan, whose whole body is under water except nose and hands, stretches upwards to finish writing a cheque from the 'Bank of Self-Preservation, Westminster'. The cheque is for 'P.R Elections', made out to 'The Liberals' and dated 1977. The singatory is 'Labour'. A hand stretches out in the top left-hand corner, ready to take the cheque.
Context: After a by-election defeat in 1977, Callaghan's Labour government lost its majority in the House of Commons and were forced to enter an agreement with the Liberal Party whereby Liberal MPs would support the government in exchange for them enacting some Liberal policies. The cartoon suggests that Callaghan is willing to offer the Liberals a change in the electoral system to proportional representation as the price for saving his endangered government. |