Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson was a Labour politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
Wilson started in academia at Oxford. When World War 2 broke out, he entered civil service and the Ministry of Fuel and Power.
Anticipating a call for a general election, in 1945 he found a safe Labour constituency and resigned from public offices to stand as a candidate. He won the seat in the elections held that July and was immediately appointed to Attlee's government. In 1947 he was named to the Board of Trade.
Wilson drifted across party factions over the course of many years. While serving in Attlee's government, he became associated with the left-wing faction led by Aneurin Bevan. Labour won the 1945 elections by campaigning on free healthcare, and Bevan had been instrumental in organizing the National Health Service (NHS). To help finance the Korean War however, the government instituted dental and ophthalmic charges. Bevan and Wilson both resigned in protest. Shortly after, Labour lost the general elections of October 1951. In 1954 however the two split over SEATO; Bevan resigned from the shadow cabinet in protest of Labour's decision to support the treaty, and Wilson stepped up to fill the vacancy. He then supported Hugh Gaitskell over Bevan in the 1955 leadership contest, for which he was rewarded with the shadow chancellorship. Bevan died in 1960 and Wilson established himself as the left-wing candidate in a 1960 leadership contest against Gaitskell, after which he was relocated to shadow foreign secretary. Gaitskell died in 1963 and the right-wing of the party was split between George Brown and Callaghan. Meanwhile, Wilson again established himself as the left-wing candidate in the ensuing leadership contest, and that unity catapulted him to victory.
The October 1964 general elections resulted in a hung parliament in which Wilson established a minority government. Snap elections in March 1966 then secured an actual majority.
Wilson's government struggled to design an economic policy that would be both politically and financially viable. Inflation became a crisis following the oil shocks.
- Substantial devaluation of the sterling was unpopular but ultimately necessary, as bringing up exports became a primary goal.
- To that effort tariffs were also instituted, but Wilson was forced to walk them back soon after.
The Capital Gains Tax, which previous governments including Eden's had attempted, was finally pushed through in 1965.
The Selective Employment Tax scheme (i.e., differential income tax rates across industries according to national priorities, generally favoring manufacturing) was unpopular and led to strikes.
- Income taxes were raised.
- He tried to halt rising unemployment by keeping interest rates low and raising pensions. This effectively pushed a fiscal burden onto local municipalities that had to pay the pensions.
He tried to keep housing costs low by building 1 million council houses, introducing the Option Mortgage scheme (i.e., means-tested mortgage subsidies), and excluding primary residences from the aforementioned capital gains tax.
Very notable for the time: Wilson's government accomplished nearly zero expansion of public ownership or nationalization, the lone exception being the British Steel Corporation.
Even so, the EEC decided against the pound as a reserve currency.
On the other hand, his government advanced social causes on multiple fronts.
The Race Relations Act of 1965 outlawed discrimination on basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.
The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act of 1965 banned the death penalty in most circumstances.
The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 partially (as in, conditioned on being private) legalized homosexuality.
The Abortion Act of 1967 legalized abortion.
The Divorce Reform Act of 1969 liberalized marriage law.
- The government pushed comprehensive schools and more generally raised public investment into education.
The deployment of troops into Northern Ireland, which started off the Troubles, began under Wilson's government.
Snap elections in June 1970 led to a surprise victory for the Conservatives. Inflation became an all-consuming problem for the Heath government however, largely due to the Nixon shock and further oil shocks. The situation in Northern Ireland also degraded rapidly. Elections were called in February 1974 and led to a hung parliament, but Wilson again put together a minority government and returned to power. The second Wilson government was entirely focused on the economy, and his policy was the Social Contract. He negotiated a coordinated cap on pay raises with the Trades Union Congress in exchange for various other price controls and rent freezes.
Wilson resigned in March 1976. Callaghan won the leadership contest and inherited the government. Wilson continued to serve in the Commons, chair committees, and contest elections; he finally stood down for the June 1983 general election. He was then created baron of Rievaulx and entered the Lords.
Wilson died in 1994.