Early 1980s recession in the context of "Second Van Agt cabinet"

West Bromwich (/ˈbrɒmɪtʃ/ BROM-itch), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 7 miles (11 kilometres) northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, cultures and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 103,112 in the 2021 Census.

Initially a rural village, West Bromwich's growth corresponded with that of the Industrial Revolution, owing to the area's natural richness in ironstone and coal, as well as its proximity to canals and railway branches. It led to the town becoming a centre for coal mining, brick making, the iron industry and metal trades such as nails, springs and guns. The town's primary economy developed into the engineering, manufacturing and the automotive industry through the early 20th century. During the Second World War, West Bromwich experienced bombing from the German Luftwaffe. It also suffered heavily during recessions in the mid 1970s, early 1980s and late 2000s.

The 1979 oil crisis, sometimes referred to as the second oil crisis (in reference to the 1973 oil crisis), refers to the drop in oil production in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution led to an energy crisis in 1979. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four percent, the oil markets' reaction raised the price of crude oil drastically over the next 12 months, more than doubling it to $39.50 per barrel ($248/m). The sudden increase in price was connected with fuel shortages similar to the 1973 oil crisis.

In 1980, following the onset of the Iran–Iraq War, oil production in Iran fell drastically. Iraq's oil production also dropped significantly, triggering economic recessions worldwide. Oil prices did not return to pre-crisis levels until the mid-1980s.

The third Van Agt cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 29 May 1982 until 4 November 1982. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D'66) after the fall of the previous Cabinet Van Agt II. The caretaker rump cabinet was a centrist coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Dries van Agt continuing as Prime Minister and dual served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Progressive-Liberal Leader Jan Terlouw continued as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs from previous cabinet.

The cabinet served in the early years of the economic expansion of the 1980s. Domestically its primary objective was to make preparations for a snap election in 1982, and it had to deal with a growing inflation following the recession in the 1980s and the Cent was removed as an active currency. Following the election the cabinet continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the First Lubbers cabinet.

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945, with a majority of 144 seats and the first of two consecutive landslide victories.

Thatcher's first term as Prime Minister had not been an easy time. Unemployment increased during the first three years of her premiership and the economy went through a recession. However, the British victory in the Falklands War led to a recovery of her personal popularity, and economic growth had begun to resume.