Margaret Thatcher that Foreign Secretary James Callaghan warned his fellow Labour Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of "a breakdown of democracy", telling them: "If I were a young man, I would emigrate." In mid-1978, the economy began to recover and opinion polls showed Labour in the lead, with a general election being expected later that year and a Labour win a serious possibility. Now Prime Minister, Callaghan surprised many by announcing on 7 September that there would be no general election that year and he would wait until 1979 before going to the polls. Thatcher reacted to this by branding
Margaret Thatcher had been badly misinterpreted, arguing that race was never an important focus of Thatcherism. Throughout her premiership, both major parties took similar positions on immigration policy, having in 1981 passed the British Nationality Act with bipartisan support. There were no policies passed or proposed by her government aimed at restricting immigration, and the subject of race was never highlighted by Thatcher in any of her major speeches as Prime Minister. Many of Thatcher's policies had an influence on the Labour Party, which had returned to power in 1997 under Tony Blair. Blair rebranded the party "New Labour" in 1994 with