Wilson, James Harold

(1916–95)

   Harold Wilson served as a postwar Labour minister in the Attlee Government and later became Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976. His Governments were undermined by longstanding economic problems that limited the scope for achievement in the social field. His Governments’ creation of the Open University and the office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and passage of the first legislation on race relations are among the most memorable innovations.

   Wilson possessed finely tuned leadership skills that enabled him to keep the wings of the party united as a ‘broad church’. While in opposition between 1970 and 1974, divisions over attitudes to the European Economic Community caused schism. To plaster over his difficulties, he committed Labour to a referendum on British membership should the party be returned in the next election. This vote was held in 1975.

   Possessed of a sharp brain, he was a formidable debater and opponent, but some colleagues found him too short-termist (‘a week is a long time in politics’), concerned with tactics and opportunistic. The verdict of his colleague Nye Bevan (the leftwinger credited with the creation of the National Health Service), was ‘all facts and no bloody vision’.