When was harold wilson prime minister

Andrew concluded there had been no MI5 conspiracy and described Wilson as paranoid. However, in his preface, he said there had been "one significant excision" from the book.

It was later reported that this was a claim - suppressed by Whitehall on "public interest" grounds - that Downing Street was bugged from until Numerous sources recall Wilson telling them during his final spell in No 10 that the building was bugged.

OK, you're right, it is complicated…. There is a lot that is still unclear, and historians are still arguing about it. David Leigh's book, The Wilson Plot, sets out the case for a conspiracy. Pimlott, Wilson's biographer, thought something murky was afoot, at the very least, as does the historian, Dominic Sandbrook.

Lomas suspects the truth lies somewhere in the middle - while the plot within MI5 may have been limited to "Peter Wright and a mate", there was undoubtedly a wider right-wing milieu in the s that sought to bring down Wilson, he says. If you're on the opposite side, that says this is a figment of the imagination, it never happened, there's evidence to support that argument as well," he says.

It's one of those whodunnits where there's no right or wrong - it depends on what you want to believe. Who was he? Who was Sir Oswald Mosley? Image source, Getty Images. Image source, Netflix. Wilson was a big fan of Gannex raincoats - made by Joseph Kagan.

Image source, Keystone. You may also be interested in Related Topics. One of the key turning points or lack thereof in the Wilson era was the decision not to devalue the pound upon reaching office in However, several essays in the book make the point that such a view is somewhat simplistic.

Revisionist hindsight with regards to devaluation also tends to ignore the practical constraints that Wilson was under in he had a slim majority, a party split on the issue, and furthermore he was under pressure from the Americans not to devalue. The previously alluded to output of diaries with regards to the Wilson era tends to lay the stress on the day to day battles that ministers engaged in over economic issues; as a result the liberalisation of Britain that occurred under Wilson has been overlooked in many accounts of his governments.

That said, had Wilson been genuinely opposed to reform on these issues, he surely would not have appointed Roy Jenkins as Home Secretary in The problem was however, that the unions were not particularly interested in being social partners or instruments of government.

To help us improve GOV. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Cookies on GOV. UK We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies. Hide this message. Skip to main content. Home History of the UK Government. Past Prime Ministers Harold Wilson. Is this page useful? In the following year, having become Labour's longest-serving prime minister, Wilson unexpectedly resigned.

For the remainder of his life he took virtually no part in British politics. Subjects: History — Regional and National History. View all reference entries ». View all related items in Oxford Reference ». Search for: 'Harold Wilson' in Oxford Reference ».

All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.

Oxford Reference. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search.