Editing David Steel (section)

===Leader of Liberal Party===
In 1976, following the downfall of [[Jeremy Thorpe]], and a short period in which [[Jo Grimond]] acted as caretaker leader, he won the Liberal leadership by a wide margin over [[John Pardoe]]. At only 38 years old, he was one of the youngest party leaders in British history. In March 1977, he led the Liberals into the "[[Lib–Lab pact]]". The Liberals agreed to support the Labour government, whose narrow majority since the [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election in October 1974]] had been gradually eroded and left them as a minority government, in power, in return for a degree of prior consultation on policy. This pact lasted until August 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge79.shtml |title=BBC Politics 97 |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=3 May 1979 |access-date=19 September 2013}}</ref>

Steel was criticised, both then and since, for not driving a harder bargain. However, Steel's defenders contend that the continuing scandal surrounding Thorpe left the party in a very weak state to face an early general election, and Steel was wise to buy himself some time from Prime Minister [[James Callaghan]]. At the same time, the growing unpopularity of the Labour government impaired the Liberals' performance, and Steel's first election as leader, the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], saw a net two-seat loss for the Liberals.