By Elliott West
“A week is a long time in politics”.
Harold Wilson
Introduction
In a time of political turmoil, it is always good to reflect on history. Much has been said in the media about the present industrial unrest with comparisons to the economic and industrial turbulence that stained the reputations of Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan. For the purpose of this piece, I would like to concentrate on Harold Wilson. Wilson is still the most successful Prime Minister to date, having won four general elections for the Labour Party. Yet beyond the pipe smoking and jovial character that was a powerful voice in post-war Britain, lies a more complex character who spun a web of promised change but ended up a nervous wreck as rumours of being a Russian spy and having a supposed affair with his private secretary became truths only in his head. Whispers that would leave his nerves shredded.
The Promise
James Harold Wilson was born in Huddersfield in 1916 and grew up living in a middle-class background. A scholarship led him to a place at Royds Hall Grammar School and he studied history at Jesus College, Oxford. A rich education that quickly rose this intellectual to posts as an economic history lecturer at New College, Oxford and a research fellow at University College, Oxford. Had she had her way, his wife Mary would have kept him in this role but this former Liberal was spotted by the hierarchy of the Labour Party as a potential rising star.
Elected as a Labour MP in 1945 for the seat of Ormskirk, Harold quickly scooped up the triumphant Attlee government, serving as a Parliamentary Secretary, Secretary of Overseas Trade and President of the Board of Trade. However, the fallout over the National Health Service would lead him to resign from the cabinet in the dying days of this government. Wilson would go on to have a glittering opposition career under Hugh Gaitskell serving as Shadow Chancellor and Shadow Foreign Secretary.
This was a time in the Labour Party when colleagues were at each others’ throats with the Bevan and Gaitskell wings arguing over nuclear disarmament. After one failed attempt at leadership, Wilson was the natural successor to Hugh Gaitskell when he suddenly passed away in January 1963. A general election would ensue in 1964 and the Labour Party won a narrow victory. Like Tony Blair’s 1997 triumph, Harold tapped into the mood of the time and promised radical change. The white heat of a technological revolution kept the left wing onside and Wilson should be praised for being a master at keeping the party united.
A Vote Winner
Harold Wilson was so successful in his early premiership largely because he blended into the party. Secretly he didn’t believe in most of the political dogma in the party but felt it necessary to succeed. A shrewd politician, Wilson trod the publicity path and used the success of the Beatles and England’s World Cup win in 1966 to sell his message. He abolished capital punishment and theatre censorship, relaxed the divorce laws and decriminalised homosexuality. However, it would be his economic policies and close relationship with the trade unions that would cause his premiership to gradually unravel. A government that would hit the buffers in 1970 and Edward Heath to take over.
Perhaps this was the point that Harold felt he could take a backseat and enjoy the quiet life. He was in fact a man who preferred the isolation of the Isle of Scilly to the hot air of Westminster. A place where he could escape with his wife, children and dogs. Wilson became the underdog and he was very surprised when he went on to win the two elections in 1974. Wilson was by now a weaker man who probably didn’t want to be in power. The Labour Party was sinking into a political quagmire and a run on the pound would eventually lead to devaluation.
Despite rocketing unemployment and inflation, Harold’s sudden resignation in 1976 surprised the party and the media. It was like losing an arm. Wilson at been at the helm for so long but I personally believe that he had just had enough. He wanted to hand over the political crown to someone else despite only being 60, a relatively young age for a statesman of the time. Many suggested that James Callaghan should be his natural successor and we all know what ensued and led to the rise of Margaret Thatcher and left the party licking its wounds in opposition until 1997.
Afterthoughts
It is a great shame that Harold Wilson is very rarely mentioned in modern-day politics. A promise that eventually turned into a migraine for the Labour Party as it chose to open its wounds of division. I praise Wilson for his management of the party but you can only trick the voting public for so long when promises don’t come to fruition. This promised Socialist land never came to be. Harold told his inner circle that he only wanted to serve two further years when he won the 1974 election and that is an ironic promise that he kept.
Brief media appearances would occur in the media and the House of Lords but he disappeared in the latter part of his life. The real reason was he was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. An awful disease that would eventually take his life and additional colon cancer in 1995. At the time, both Houses of Parliament led tributes to this largely successful politician. A man who was sadly brought down by his handling of the economy, trade unions and his own paranoia.
