If the law is a bad law, there is always the contingent right to take action that you would not otherwise take.

He married Audrey Elizabeth Moulton whom he had met when they both worked as Sunday School teachers at the local Baptist church in July 1938 and had three children – one son and two daughters. It was actually not until 1971 under a Conservative government that the United Kingdom moved from the system of pounds shillings and pence to a decimal system of 100 pence to the pound. The industrial unrest made his government extremely unpopular and Callaghan's response to one interview question only made it worse.

Callaghan's period as Chancellor of the Exchequer coincided with a turbulent period for the British economy during which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. This was followed by a defeat in the ensuing general election. Labour had already lost its small majority in the House of Commons by the time he became Prime Minister and further by-elections and defections forced Callaghan to deal with minor parties such as the Liberal Party particularly in the "Lib-Lab pact" from 1977 to 1978.