Callaghan, James

(1912–2005)

   Leonard James Callaghan was first elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1945. As Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Wilson Government from1964,hewasforcedtoacceptdevaluationof thepound (1967) which he had fought hard to resist.Hethen served as Home Secretary, during which time he ordered British troops into Northern Ireland to deal with rising levels of inter-communitytension.Asforeign secretaryunderWilson (1974–6), he was responsible for renegotiating the terms of Britain’s membership of the European Economic Community and supporting a ‘Yes’ vote in the 1975 referendum on whether the UK should remain a member. He became Prime Minister in 1976, the only person to do so have previously held all three great offices of state. The Callaghan premiership was dogged by Labour’s lack of a parliamentary majority, forcing him to deal with third and minor parties such as the Liberals and the Ulster Unionist Party. Plagued by inflation and unemployment, ministers found it difficult to restrain trade unions’ wage demands. Their attempts foundered in a series of paralysing strikes in the winter of 1978–9 (the ‘Winter of Discontent’). Industrial strife damaged the administration and the failure to win referendums on devolution in January 1979 led to defeat on a motion of no confidence in late March. In the ensuing general election, Labour lost to the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher. Callaghan resigned as party leader in 1980 and was created a life peer in 1987.

   Callaghan cultivated the image of a fatherly, reassuring figure, there to steer the nation through perilous waters. By nature a moderate man, ‘Big Jim’ was less bold than many members of his party, yet possessed a generally instinctive appreciation of the feelings of working people and trade unionists.

   See also: no-confidence vote

   Further reading: K. Morgan, Callaghan: A Life, Oxford University Press, 1997