As chancellor of the Exchequer 1964-67, he introduced corporation and capital-gains taxes, and resigned following devaluation. He was home secretary 1967-70 and prime minister 1976-79 in a period of increasing economic stress. As foreign secretary 1974, Callaghan renegotiated Britain's membership of the European Community (now the European Union). In 1976 he succeeded Harold Wilson as prime minister and in 1977 entered into a pact with the Liberals to maintain his government in office. Strikes in the so-called "winter of discontent" 1978-79 led to the government's losing a vote of no confidence in the Commons, forcing him to call an election, and his party was defeated at the polls May 1979. This made Callaghan the first prime minister since Ramsay MacDonald 1924 to be forced into an election by the will of the Commons. In 1980 he resigned the party leadership under left-wing pressure, and in 1985 announced that he would not stand for Parliament in the next election.
