The Barisan Nasional coalition lost its hold of the parliament to PH for the first time in Malaysian history after the 2018 general election.

In the aftermath of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, together with four other parties, the Barisan Nasional coalition returned to power under a Perikatan Nasional-led government.

Although the Alliance won a majority of seats, it gained less than half the popular vote, and the resulting tension between different communities led to the May 13 riots and the declaration of a state of emergency.

[9] It contested the 1974 general election as a grand coalition under the leadership of the prime minister Tun Abdul Razak, which it won with considerable success.

[11] In the 2008 general election, Barisan Nasional lost more than one-third of the parliamentary seats to Pakatan Rakyat, a loose alliance of opposition parties.

And finally, during the 2018 general election, Barisan Nasional lost control of the parliament to Pakatan Harapan, winning a total of only 79 parliamentary seats.

The crushing defeat ended their 61-year rule of the country, taken together with its predecessor (Alliance), and this paved the way for the first change of government in Malaysian history.

[14] These parties either aligned themselves with the new Pakatan Harapan federal government, formed a new state-based pact or remained independent.

MCA and MIC made a statement in March 2019 that they want to "move on" and find a new alliance following disputes with the secretary-general, Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Mohamad Hasan, the acting BN chairman, chaired a Supreme Council meeting in which all parties showed no consensus on dissolving the coalition.

In September 2019, UMNO decided to form a pact with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) called Muafakat Nasional.

[48] The election produced a hung parliament, but BN decided to support the biggest coalition Pakatan Harapan and was rewarded with cabinet posts in the government.

[49][50] In 2013, the vast majority of Barisan Nasional's seats were held by its two largest Bumiputera-based political parties—the United Malays National Organisation, and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu.

Nevertheless, each component party purports to represent – and limit membership – to a certain race: UMNO for the Malays, MCA for the Chinese and so on.

Their membership was communal, except perhaps Gerakan, and their success was measured in terms of their ability to achieve the essentially parochial demands of their constituents.