Gossip had hinted at an improper relationship, though these rumours were never substantiated. In 1966, Wilson was created the first Chancellor of the newly created University of Bradford, a position he held until 1985. Living standards generally improved, while public spending on housing, social security, transport, research, education and health went up by an average of more than 6% between 1964 and 1970. He was unable to get into the boat and was left in the cold water, hanging on to the fenders of the motorboat. Eric Morecambe's habit of appearing not to recognise the guest stars was repaid by Wilson, who referred to him throughout as 'Morry-camby' (the mispronunciation of Morecambe's name made by Ed Sullivan when the pair appeared on his famous American television show). [154] Professor Andrew had previously recorded in the preface of the history that "One significant excision as a result of these [Cabinet Office] requirements (in the chapter on The Wilson Plot) is, I believe, hard to justify" giving credence to these new allegations.[155]. [3] Dessa olika bakslag ledde under slutet av 1960-talet till minskad popularitet för Wilson.[2]. As the war drew to an end, he searched for a seat to contest at the impending general election. [2] Wilsons motiv för avgången har förblivit oklara, men kan ha berott på att han drabbats av ett förstadium till Alzheimers sjukdom, vilket manifesterade sig som minnesluckor och koncentrationssvårigheter. According to Michael Meacher, this change put an end to a previous inequity whereby two families, in otherwise identical circumstances, paid differing amounts of tax "simply because in one case the child possessed property transferred to it by a grandparent, while in the other case the grandparent's identical property was inherited by the parent. The strike was eventually successful in breaking the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive. In the 1945 general election, Wilson won his seat in the Labour landslide. Wilson led Labour to a narrow victory at the 1964 election, and was appointed Prime Minister. Of longer-term significance, capital gains tax (CGT) was introduced across the UK on 6 April 1965. The boundaries of his Ormskirk constituency were significantly altered before the general election of 1950. The SET did not long survive the return of a Conservative government. ", Parr, Helen. On a limited scale, reports by the National Board for Prices and Incomes encouraged incentive payments schemes to be developed in local government and elsewhere. At the bitter Morecambe Conference in late 1952, Wilson was one of the Bevanites elected as constituency representatives to Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), whilst senior right-wingers such as Dalton and Herbert Morrison were voted off. The others were Douglas Jay (Economic Secretary to the Treasury) and Hugh Gaitskell (Minister of Fuel and Power), both of whom soon grew to distrust him. In response to a request from the Government of Northern Ireland, Wilson agreed to deploy the British Army in August 1969 to restore the peace. [38], In 1967, local authorities were empowered to provide free family planning advice and means-tested contraceptive devices. ", Rhiannon Vickers, "Harold Wilson, the British Labour Party, and the War in Vietnam.". Wilson personally, coming culturally from a provincial non-conformist background, showed no particular enthusiasm for much of this agenda.[43]. In 1965, the regressive allowance for national insurance contributions was abolished and the single personal allowance, marriage allowance and wife's earned income relief were increased. In retrospect Wilson has been widely criticised for not devaluing earlier, however, he believed there were strong arguments against it, including the fear that it would set off a round of competitive devaluations, and concern about the impact price rises following a devaluation would have on people on low incomes. [25] Sir Alec Douglas-Home was an aristocrat who had given up his peerage to sit in the House of Commons and become prime minister upon Macmillan's resignation. The former intelligence officer Peter Wright, in his memoirs, Spycatcher, confirmed allegations that Prime Minister Wilson had also been targeted by MI5 as a suspected KGB agent. With public frustration over strikes mounting, Wilson's government in 1969 proposed a series of changes to the legal basis for industrial relations (labour law), which were outlined in a White Paper "In Place of Strife" put forward by the Employment Secretary Barbara Castle. [14], In mid-1949, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Stafford Cripps having gone to Switzerland in an attempt to recover his health, Wilson was one of a group of three young ministers, all of them former economics dons and wartime civil servants, convened to advise Prime Minister Attlee on financial matters. [104] After De Gaulle lost power, Conservative prime minister Edward Heath negotiated Britain's admission to the EC in 1973. Die politischen Rivalitäten und Romanzen während der Regentschaft von Elizabeth II. An opinion poll in September 2011 found that Wilson came in third place when respondents were asked to name the best post-war Labour Party leader. Largely under the influence of the Hungarian-born economists Nicholas Kaldor and Thomas Balogh, an idiosyncratic Selective Employment Tax (SET) was introduced that was designed to tax employment in the service sectors while subsidising employment in manufacturing. Labour won more seats (though fewer votes) than the Conservative Party in the general election in February 1974, which resulted in a hung parliament. Wilson's earlier government had witnessed the outbreak of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. [92] The first Wilson government thus saw the distribution of income became more equal,[48] while reductions in poverty took place. The reinvention of the Labour Party would take the better part of two decades at the hands of Neil Kinnock, John Smith and electorally and most conclusively Tony Blair. Overseas aid suffered from the austerity measures introduced by the first Wilson government in its last few years in office, with British aid as a percentage of GNP falling from 0.53% in 1964 to 0.39% in 1969. It is estimated that, between 1964 and 1970, 45,000 government jobs were created outside London, 21,000 of which were located in the Development Areas. [34], Wilson's government put faith in economic planning as a way to solve Britain's economic problems. [66], The Commons Registration Act 1965 provided for the registration of all common land and village greens, whilst under the Countryside Act 1968, local authorities could provide facilities "for enjoyment of such lands to which the public has access". Important issues of his time in office included the role of public ownership, membership of the European Economic Community, and the lack of British involvement in the Vietnam War. Wilson vann fler val än någon annan brittisk premiärminister under 1900-talet, valen 1964, 1966 samt valen i februari och oktober 1974, om än oftast med liten eller ingen majoritet. [45] Money was also channelled into local-authority run colleges of education. [110], Wilson was known for his strong pro-Israel views. "Harold Wilson, the British Labour Party, and the War in Vietnam. Dorey, Pete. The means test was replaced with a statement of income, and benefit rates for pensioners (the great majority of claimants) were increased, granting them a real gain in income. [38], Wilson's government made a variety of changes to the tax system. As a result of the first Wilson government's educational policies, opportunities for working-class children were improved, while overall access to education in 1970 was broader than in 1964. The Second Wilson Government made a major commitment to the expansion of the British welfare state, with increased spending on education, health, and housing rents. [103] After initial hesitation, Wilson's Government in May 1967 lodged the UK's second application to join the European Community. [45] By 1981, 45,000 students had received degrees through the Open University. [120], Wilson's second government came into office at a troubled time for the British economy, due to a global recession and high inflation, in large part this was due to the 1973 oil crisis, and also the preceding government's inflationary attempts to boost growth. A block of high-rise flats owned by Kirklees Metropolitan District Council in Huddersfield is named after Wilson. He was the prime minister in the so-called "Swinging London" era of the 1960s and therefore features in many of the books about this period of history. [38] The Housing Act 1969 provided local authorities with the duty of working out what to do about 'unsatisfactory areas'. [34] Government intervention in industry was greatly enhanced, with the National Economic Development Office greatly strengthened and the number of "little Neddies" was increased, from eight in 1964 to twenty-one in 1970. (Please bring balloons) rip lil bro (Papa) God got you now ! He was later an economic history lecturer at New College, Oxford and a research fellow at University College, Oxford. I valet 1966 vann Labour en klar seger med en majoritet på 99 mandat. ", Rogers, Chris. As Heath was unable to persuade the Liberals to form a coalition, Wilson returned to 10 Downing Street on 4 March 1974 as prime minister of a minority Labour Government. When Wilson was eight, he visited London and a much-reproduced photograph was taken of him standing on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street. On at least one occasion the British government made an unsuccessful effort to mediate in the conflict, with Wilson discussing peace proposals with Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. Utrikesministern James Callaghan valdes som efterträdare och tog över premiärministerposten 5 april 1976. He was not seriously considered for the job of Chancellor when Cripps stepped down in October 1950—it was given to Gaitskell—possibly in part because of his dubious role during devaluation. [48] As summarised by Brian Lapping, "The years 1964–70 were largely taken up with creating extra places in universities, polytechnics, technical colleges, colleges of education: preparing for the day when a new Act would make it the right of a student, on leaving school, to have a place in an institution of further education."[38]. Labour's 1974 manifesto included a pledge to renegotiate terms for Britain's membership and then hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EC on the new terms. [22] He conducted an inquiry into the Labour Party's organisation following its defeat in the 1955 general election, which compared Labour's organisation to an antiquated "penny farthing" bicycle, and made various recommendations for improvements. Harold Wilson wurde im Jahre 1916 geboren, im gleichen Jahr wie sein Gegenspieler Edward Heath. Han anses också av många har varit en av de mer intellektuella politikerna under tidsperioden. New grants to agriculture also encouraged the voluntary pooling of smallholdings, and in cases where their land was purchased for non-commercial purposes, tenant-farmers could now receive double the previous "disturbance compensation. Wilson satt kvar i parlamentet fram till 1983. [88] In 1967, homosexuality was partially decriminalised by the passage of the Sexual Offences Act. Mot en bakgrund av ökande arbetslöshet och en ökad mängd stridsåtgärder på arbetsmarknaden förlorade Labour valet valet i juni 1970. However, there is evidence of a conspiracy: a loosely connected series of unlawful manoeuvres against an elected government by a group of like-minded figures.[150]. [35], According to Tony Atkinson, social security received much more attention from the first Wilson government than it did during the previous thirteen years of Conservative government. The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of the Government of the United Kingdom, and chair of the British Cabinet.There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was not created but rather evolved over a period of time through a merger of duties. I valet 1964 uppnådde Labour en majoritet på fem mandat och tog över regeringsmakten från Konservativa partiet och Wilson blev premiärminister. Disillusion with Britain's weak economic performance and troubled industrial relations, combined with active spadework by figures such as Sir Keith Joseph, had helped to make a radical market programme politically feasible for Thatcher (which was, in turn, to influence the subsequent Labour leadership, especially under Blair). A Small Farmers Scheme was also extended, and from 1 December 1965, forty thousand more farmers became eligible for the maximum £1,000 grant. [34] Faith in indicative planning as a pathway to growth,[37] embodied in the DEA and Mintech, was at the time by no means confined to the Labour Party. Married couples with low incomes benefited from the increases in the single personal allowance and marriage allowance. [34] In the latter half of 1967, an attempt was made to prevent the recession in activity from going too far in the form of a stimulus to consumer durable spending through an easing of credit, which in turn prevented a rise in unemployment. From 1966 to 1970, the proportion of children in comprehensive schools increased from about 10% to over 30%.[46]. In addition, by raising taxes to pay their reforms, the government paid careful attention to the principle of redistribution, with disposable incomes rising for the lowest paid while falling amongst the wealthiest during its time in office. Economic conditions during the 1970s were becoming more difficult for Britain and many other western economies as a result of the ending of the Bretton Woods Agreement and the 1973 oil crisis, and the Heath government in its turn was buffeted by economic adversity and industrial unrest (notably including confrontation with the coalminers which led to the Three-Day Week) towards the end of 1973, and on 7 February 1974 (with the crisis still ongoing) Heath called a snap election for 28 February.[118]. This was a constitutional procedure without precedent in British history. "[14] Some of those whom Wilson honoured included Lord Kagan, the inventor of Gannex (Wilson's preferred raincoat), who was eventually imprisoned for fraud, and Sir Eric Miller, who later committed suicide while under police investigation for corruption. Sie weist diese zunächst als Klatsch und Tratsch ab, erfährt aber später von einem sterbenden Winston Churchill, dass er Wilson als Premierminister misstrauisch gegenüber steht. The pilot episode proved to be a flop as Wilson appeared uncomfortable with the informality of the format. From 1959 to 1970, while the earnings of manual workers increased by 75%, the salaries of registrars more than doubled while those of house officers more than trebled. [71] Direct government expenditure on sports more than doubled from £0.9 million in 1964/65 to £2 million in 1967/68, while 11 regional Sports Councils had been set up by 1968. In September 2006, Tony Blair unveiled a second bronze statue of Wilson in the latter's former constituency of Huyton, near Liverpool. Jay wrote of Wilson's role in the debates over whether or not to devalue sterling that "he changed sides three times within eight days and finished up facing both ways". [18], Wilson had never made much secret that his support of the left-wing Aneurin Bevan was opportunistic. [119] By 1976 the recession had ended and economic recovery began,[121] by 1978/79 living standards recovered to the level they had been in 1973/74. Wilson built on foundations that had been laid by his Conservative predecessors, in the shape, for example, of the National Economic Development Council (known as "Neddy") and its regional counterparts (the "little Neddies"). [49] The Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969, passed in response to the Aberfan disaster, made provision for preventing disused tips from endangering members of the public. In Scotland, spending on trunk roads went up from £6.8 million in 1963/64 to £15.5 million in 1966/67, while in Wales, spending on Welsh roads went up from £21.2 million in 1963/64 to £31.4 million in 1966/67. It fell again towards the end of the decade, standing at 582,000 by the time of the general election in June 1970.[41]. [148] In July 1987, Labour MP Ken Livingstone used his maiden speech to raise the 1975 allegations of a former Army Press officer in Northern Ireland, Colin Wallace, who also alleged a plot to destabilise Wilson. He was supported in this by Richard Crossman, but his actions angered Bevan and the other Bevanites.[19]. [3] 1938–1939 samarbetade han i Oxford med William Beveridge i dennes studier inför Beveridgerapporten (1942) som bland annat förespråkade socialförsäkringar. On 28 June 1966 Wilson 'dissociated' his Government from American bombing of the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Some elements of these changes were subsequently to be enacted (in modified form) during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. This involved British warships blockading the port of Beira to try to cause economic collapse in Rhodesia. Mary Wilson became a published poet. [54] The Family Provision Act 1966 amended a series of pre-existing estate laws mainly related to persons who died intestate. Thus the poor, the retired, the sick and the unemployed did better in real terms under Labour than they did under Conservatives, and families did worse."[63]. The centrepiece of the policy was the National Enterprise Board (NEB) which was established in 1975 and was intended to channel public investment into industry, in return for taking a holding of equity in private companies. Wilson was the Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. He claimed that he had always planned on resigning at the age of 60 and that he was physically and mentally exhausted. Moving churches from risk management to risk-taking. Among the more challenging political dilemmas Wilson faced was the issue of British membership of the European Community, the forerunner of the present European Union. Former MI5 officer Peter Wright claimed in his memoirs, Spycatcher, that 30 MI5 agents then collaborated in an attempt to undermine Wilson. Februar 1974 auf einer Pressekonferenz, blieb von den paranoiden Verdächtigungen Angletons nicht verschont. Despite its achievements in social policy, Wilson's government came under scrutiny in 1975 for the rise in the unemployment rate, with the total number of Britons out of work passing one million by that April. In 1950, he moved to represent the seat of Huyton. Between 1964 and 1966 the average rate of unemployment was 1.6%, while between 1966 and 1970 the average stood at 2.5%. But...he lacked originality. Vietnam was a sore point. [108] The matter was still unresolved at the time of Wilson's resignation in 1976. Elizabeth er bekymret, da Labour-lederen Harold Wilson, bliver premierminister, mens rygterne svirrer om hans mulige forbindelse til KGB og monarkiets lave popularitet. The first, unveiled by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in July 1999, stands outside Huddersfield railway station in St George's Square, Huddersfield. I’m not sure about the last decade but the last year or so have certainly seen a change at Wilson. [1] Wilson's approach to socialism was regarded as moderate compared with others; a member of Labour's soft left, Wilson joked about leading a Cabinet made up mostly of social democrats, comparing himself to a Bolshevik revolutionary presiding over a Tsarist cabinet, but there was little to divide him ideologically from the majority of his Cabinet. In 1974, three weeks after forming a new government, Wilson's new chancellor Denis Healey partially reversed the 1971 reduction in the top rate of tax from 90% to 75%, increasing it to 83% in his first budget, which came into law in April 1974. In 1969, a married couple with two children were 11.5% per cent richer in real terms, while for a couple with three children, the corresponding increase was 14.5%, and for a family with four children, 16.5%. Auch der ehemalige britische Premierminister Harold Wilson, hier am 18. Nach einer Wahlkreisreform im Jahre 1950 repräsentierte er den Wahlkreis Ho… Apart from the age relief, further adjustments in these concessions were implemented in 1970. Also implemented was an investment income surcharge which raised the top rate on investment income to 98%, the highest level since the Second World War. Despite his earlier association with Bevan, in 1955 he backed Hugh Gaitskell, the right-wing candidate in internal Labour Party terms, against Bevan for the party leadership. [34], In practice, however, events derailed much of the initial optimism. [38] The Public Records Act 1967 also introduced a thirty-year rule for access to public records, replacing a previous fifty-year rule.[89]. He continued in academia, becoming one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. [86] 7 regional associations were established to develop the arts, and government expenditure on cultural activities rose from £7.7 million in 1964/64 to £15.3 million in 1968/69. [56], The First Wilson Government also encouraged married women to return to teaching and improved Assistance Board Concessionary conditions for those teaching part-time, "by enabling them to qualify for pension rights and by formulating a uniform scale of payment throughout the country." Han blev senare underhusledamot för valkretsen Huyton. Dies ist eine Liste im Jahr 1953 verstorbener bekannter Persönlichkeiten.Die Einträge erfolgen innerhalb der einzelnen Daten alphabetisch. Finansminister James Callaghan hade motsatt sig devalveringen, och den genomfördes efter att Wilson flyttat Callaghan till en annan ministerpost. For a family with two children in the income range £676 to £816 per annum, cash benefits rose from 4% of income in 1964 to 22% in 1968, compared with a change from 1% to 2% for a similar family in the income range £2,122 to £2,566 over the same period. He refused to pressure a reluctant British Army to face down the loyalist paramilitaries who were intimidating utility workers. According to the historian, Dominic Sandbrook: In its commitment to social services and public welfare, the Wilson government put together a record unmatched by any subsequent administration, and the mid-sixties are justifiably seen as the 'golden age' of the welfare state. To Wilson's comment that he was out of touch with ordinary people since he was the 14th Earl of Home, Home retorted, "I suppose Mr. Wilson is the fourteenth Mr. bei welcher der sowjetische Geheimdienst KGB mit der blossen Behauptung eines solchen Mordes die Belegung der Adresse Downing Street 10 zu London beeinflussen wollte, sich also quasi an der Themse zum obersten Immobilien-Makler aufschwang, vollzog sich rund um den Antritt der Regierung von Harold Wilson als Premierminister des United Kingdom. Despite the economic difficulties faced by Wilson's government, it was able to achieve important advances in several domestic policy areas. When Wilson entered office for the second time, he had privately admitted that he had lost his enthusiasm for the role, he had told a close adviser upon entering office in 1974 that "I have been around this racetrack so often that I cannot generate any more enthusiasm for jumping any more hurdles. In 1974, as many as 750,000 people were liable to pay the top rate of income tax. Along with neighbouring new development Callaghan Drive (named after James Callaghan), it formed part of a large housing estate developed since the 1960s where all streets were named after former prime ministers or senior parliamentary figures.