He became Prime Minister following Harold Wilson’s resignation; the leader of a minority government, he was forced in 1977 to negotiate an agreement with the Liberal Party (the Lib–Lab Pact) to stay in power. After widespread strikes in the so-called ‘winter of discontent’ (1978–79), Callaghan’s government received a vote of no confidence on the issue of Scottish devolution; the Labour Party lost to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives in the ensuing election.