Often in Liberal circles, the question comes up as to Prime Ministers we should claim the legacy of; this is understandable considering the Party hasn't had a PM since 1922, over a century ago now. Usually the chief candidate for this position is Winston Churchill, who was a key player in the Liberal Governments of 1906-1922, and whose stint as Conservative Prime Minister during World War 2 is so ingrained in British memory that I don't even have to write anything about it for you to understand my point. Churchill consistently topped most rankings among academics, the public, and journalists at the end of the 20th Century, so it's easy to see why he'd be a popular choice for a Prime Minister to claim as sharing our values, particularly as the Conservative Party moves away from Thatcherism and more towards National Populism. I however would like to propose a different candidate for the job, Harold Wilson, the longest serving Prime Minster of the post-war consensus, who was successfully reelected on four occasions. - more than any other 20th Century PM.
This one's turned out far longer than usual as it spans several decades of history and requires explaining some dynamics in the Labour Party, so maybe grab a warm drink. With regards to this I have also decided to split this into multiple Parts and sections so that I don't spend forever on an overly long post, please feel free to skip context you may already know, I have written presuming my audience doesn't. Future pieces in this series will be posted as and when I finish them.
Liberal Influences up to 1950
The first and most obvious reason for Liberals to claim Wilson's legacy, is that his early political career was steeped in influence from the Liberal Party, which he had initially joined during University, much like his Father, who had been involved in Churchill's 1908 by-election campaign, It was only during the Great Depression, which forced him to witness his own father and classmates falling into joblessness, that Wilson was convinced to switch to the Labour, though he notably never joined Oxford's Labour Club, stating in his Memoirs that "What I felt I could not stomach was all those Marxist public school products rambling on about the exploited workers and the need for a socialist revolution." It was clear, even at this point, he was more interested in Socialism from a Technocratic standpoint than and Ideological one. When the war broke out in 1939 he was deemed placed in the Civil Service as a researcher for William Beveridge, a Liberal MP, under which he would provide the crucial research for the 1942 Beveridge Report, which provided the crucial basis for both Labour and the Liberal Party's 1945 Manifestos. As such we can observe that Wilson was already steeped in Liberal influence from the start of his career.
Wilson himself would stand as Labour MP for Osmkirk in the 1945 General Election, winning the Seat with a comfortable majority of just over 7000 votes. While there is certainly something to be said about his role in the Attlee Government, he was generally regarded at the time as an unremarkable MP compared to some of his contemporaries, with one critic remarking his very technical speeches were "Mountainous sandwiches of tedium." Yet despite this, a power struggle between the Left and Right Labour would soon bring him to the top of the Party; but to understand this, we must look at what the bigger players of what the time were doing.
Divides in Labour 1950-55
Understanding Wilson's rise to power in the Labour Party (as well as Labour more generally) requires understanding the internal split that had developed by the Attlee Government's second Term (1950-51) between two high-ranking Cabinet Members, Aneurin "Nye" Bevan, and Hugh Gaitskell:
Bevan was on the Left of Labour and was the mind behind the National Health Service, and he drew openly from Marxist theories of Class Struggle in his political tracts. Bevanites generally wanted to use Nationalisation as a tool to distribute economic power away from Capitalists and towards Managers and Workers, often (understandably) being very hostile to compromises that would reduce gains they'd made, though that does not imply inflexibility or lack of discussion around policy more generally. Bevanites were also sceptical of America and Europe, instead advocating a Socialist Alternative among willing countries, arguing that it would create lasting peace that would allow for partial disarmament, though they were divided on if Nuclear disarmament was realistically possible. These ideas were usually more popular among Labour's activists than the Parliamentary Party. When people refer to "Old Labour" they usually mean Bevanite Labour. Notable Bevanites included:
- Tony Benn - Friend of Jeremy Corbyn and credited by Zack Polanski as his favourite Politician, much of modern Hard-Left thought in Britain can be traced to his often very astute observations on politics.
- Micheal Foot - The future Labour Leader, whose 1983 Manifesto was infamously criticised by the Shadow Health Secratary as "The Longest Suicide Note in History" for it's positions against NATO, the EU and Nuclear Weaponry.
- Barbara Castle - A now oft-forgotten champion of Women's Rights in political discourse, she intervened to help striking Sewing Machinists who were being paid over 15% less than their male colleagues, culminating in her work passing the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
- Harold Wilson - the star of today's blogpost, though as you'll see, his relationship with the Bevanites is a bit more complicated.
Gaitskell on the other hand, was on the Right of Labour, to the point where his followers were often dispargingly called Butskellites due to how often they aligned Rab Butler, the Conservative Chancellor. They did not believe that the Common Ownership of the Means of Production, as outlined in Marxist theory, was essential to achieving Socialism, and instead emphasised social equality, strong welfare, and personal freedom as the core of the movement, viewing the traditional Socialist ideas of Trade Unions and Nationalisation as mere tools towards their goals instead of essential parts of their ideology. They were generally in favour of more hawkish foreign policy as well as being more pro-Europe, though Gaitskell himself criticised his followers for the latter. These ideas tended to be more popular among the Parliamentary Party than Activists. Notable Gaitskellites included:
- Anthony Crosland - Arguably to the right of Gaitskell himself, his book 'The Future of Socialism' is seen as essential to the trajectory of New Labour's policies, with Gordon Brown writing the foreword for the 50th Anniversary edition.
- Roy Jenkins - Founding member of the SDP, and later Liberal Democrat. He played a key role in reducing restrictions on homosexuality, abortion and divorces, ending capital punishment and theatre censorship, and even oversaw a budget surplus in his time as Chancellor, paving the path to joining the European Communities.
- Shirley Williams - Another SDP Founder, and later Liberal Democrat. She was a supporter of Crosland's Campaign to establish Comprehensive Schooling and one of the Leaders of the Remain Campaign in the 1975 Brexit Referendum.
- Jim Callaghan - Future Prime Minister and Labour Leader. His loss to Margaret Thatcher in 1979 after insufficiently dealing with the Winter of Disconent - a series of strikes that paralysed the country - spelt eighteen years in Opposition for Labour
It should be noted that these factions were by no means as much of a monolith as I'm making them out to be; they were often, in reality, very fluid, and Labour MPs usually held several views in common with both factions. Tony Benn, for example, only moved to the Left in the early 1970s. Equally, these faction names were by no means consistent, what was called a Bevanite might now be referred to as a Corbynite, and what was a Gaitskellite now more closely resembles a Brownite. However, for the sake of consistency, I will be using their original labels.
Gaitskell (left) and Bevan (right) on an ITV Programme discussing their visit to the Soviet Union.
Regardless, in 1951 the divides between the two factions came to a head when Gaitskell, who had recently become Chancellor, decided to introduce prescription charges (which still exist in England today!) on previously free NHS Services to help fund the British effort in the Korean War. This angered Bevan and his allies who felt the move would disproportionately affected the Working Classes, defeating the point of the NHS, leading to a mass resignation of Bevanite MPs. The affair left George VI nervous that the Government, which had only won a slim majority of 5 Seats in 1950, would collapse while he was on a foreign trip, and requested an early election for 1951. At this point the public had grown discontented with the disunited Labour Party, and the Conservative Party, promising to respect several elements of the "Socialist Doctrine", won out.
By this time Attlee had grown nervous that if he stepped down the leadership contest would turn into a battle between Gaitskell and Bevan, that would divide the party; and so despite his declining health, he stayed as leader until after the 1955 General Election in the hopes the divides would calm down in the mean time. When Labour lost again to the incumbent Conservative Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, Attlee resigned, with Deputy Leader Herbert Morisson regarded as being the continuity candidate in the following Leadership Election. However, much like Attlee had predicted, the real competition would be between Gaitskell and Bevan, who both threw their hats into the ring. In the end Gaitskell would win with the support of 59% of Labour's MPs, alongside backing from the Transport, Mineworkers and General Unions, one of the single largest margins of victory in Labour History.
Becoming the Leader of Labour 1955-1963
With that relatively lengthy detour out the way we return to Wilson himself. Wilson had been part of the 1951 Rebellion of Bevanites and resigned his role as President of the Board of Trade during it, in this time he had begun to make a name for himself as one of the first and foremost MPs of the Bevanite faction alongside others like Foot, and when Bevan died in 1959, he quickly rose to be leader of the faction due to his more moderate positions on Nuclear Armaments and more respectable and less dogmatic demeanour than someone more abrasive, like Micheal Foot.
A Vicky Weisz Cartoon depicting Wilson and co. as young troublemakers attacking the successful Gaitskellites.
When Labour lost Seats for the third General Election in a row in 1959, one they were expected to win, Gaitskell decided there was a need to reshape Labour, and began to make moves to change Clause IV of the Labour Party Constitution to remove the commitment to the Nationalisation of all industry, he had continually defied the Policy of Nuclear Disarmament that had won popular support at Labour's Conference that same year, angering the Left of the Party and leading to another set of resignations. With divisions still prominent almost a decade after the 1951 loss, Wilson decided in 1960 to challenge Gaitskell for the Leadership of the Party, stating that the problem was not Gaitskell's direction, but a question of respecting the democratic will of the Party. With Gaitskell having already threatened to remove him from position of Shadow Chancellor in order to consolidate the Right of the Party, Wilson felt he had nothing to lose.
Unforunately Wilson would lose the leadership race in 1960, and in a 1961 reshuffle he was demoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary. However, in January 1963 another opportunity would open up for Wilson when Gaitskell unexpectedly died, with Wilson, the most experienced candidate of the three tunning, winning 58% of the MPs on the ballot. With only a year to go before the next scheduled General Election, and the Conservatives polling increasingly poorly, Wilson would have the Herculean task to unite the Labour Party into a credible force of Governance in just under a year.
Wilson initially challenge Gaitskell out of respect for the Party's vote in favour of Nuclear Disarmament, but in his first interview for Panorama in 1963, he would reiterate that he supported Gaitskell and instead opposed the way he tried to ignore the more Bevanite Grassroots, risking further Party divides. Additionally, Wilson avoided significantly reshuffling the Gaitskell Shadow Cabinet, keeping most Ministers in the same positions, despite much of Gaitskell's Shadow Cabinet being publicly known to have voted against him, putting teamwork above personal ideology.
It is here another Liberal trait of Harold Wilson presents itself; his belief in democracy and debate. Contemporary Labour MPs regarded him as a politician without principle, believing he put his ambition before any values, but the truth is respecting democratic choices was a principle in it's own right, and as you'll see in the next section, this by no means suggests he was passive about decisions. I occasionally hear it asked how Labour is so unhealthily factional compared to the Liberal Democrats, and it's got a lot to do with the centralised structure of the Party; as we've seen with the blocking of Andy Burnham, all you need to control the majority of the Party's functions, is to control the top. Wilson, in respecting democratic decisions by both activists and MPs kept the Party together in a way it has rarely seen, and this is a value we share, whether that be through our many forums for debate such as Lib Dem Voice or Liberator Magazine, or the Conference itself where we vote, debate and ammend documents that we'd like to become official Party Policy. The ability to direct a wide range of views towards a common goal was a value both we and Wilson share.
Leading and Campaigning 1963-1964
In 1963 the Conservative Party had been faltering after twelve years in power, with rising unemployment, a failure to negotiate membership of the European Community, facing a veto from French President Charles de Gaulle over their pro-American foreign policy, and a Cabinet reshuffle so brutal it was variously dubbed by the papers as a 'Night of the Long Knives' and 'the most reckless political appointment since Roman Emperor Caligula made his favourite horse a Consul'. This was fertile ground for Wilson to strike, and when the Conservatives were found to have used Parliamentary Privillege to cover-up their MP John Profumo's infidelity in June 1963 - with his lover having links to Soviet intelligence - Wilson spared no time in tabling a Motion of No Confidence against the Conservative Government. This decisive move allowed Labour to appear as serious opposition to the Conservatives when they were still largely expected to win in 1964, and while the Motion failed, it would irreversibly damage the Conservatives reputation, with the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan being forced to resign in October that year, using what was a benign prostate issue as an excuse. In the past decisiveness has been the make or break for the Liberal Democrats,
Aside from his cunning, another skill Wilson developed at this time was his oratory, although this was not immediately obvious; in the aforementioned Panorama Interviw, Wilson kept a moderate, calm and almost Statesman-like tone, attempting to replicate Attlee's speaking style, often at the time as regarded as the only man who had kept the factions under control. However, this would soon be shed as Wilson delivered his first speech to the Labour Conference in October 1963. This speech, wholly written himself, 'The White Heat of the Technological Revolution' is regarded as one of the best he ever gave; in this speech, he made his principles clear, like Gaitskell, he would warn the the Labour Party that if it got stuck in old-fashioned industrial relations at a time where technology and lifestyles were rapidly changing, it would be doomed to continue losing. Wilson argued that if Labour refused to adapt to this new age of automation, corporations would use it to create unemployment instead of propserity in the name of profit, and if they rejected it altogether, Britain would lose it's innovative minds and become a backwater, as such he advocated for a regulated market and for education to be accessible throughout life, so all could have a chance to become innovators, George Brown, who had opposed Wilson in the leadership race would state "Although I had doubts about how we reached our leadership decision six months ago, I consider it an honour to pay tribute to the way we our being led now." Wilson's attempt at uniting the factions of Labour behind him had succeeded. What this speech outlined is also noticeably Liberal set of policies, suggesting both an overly controlling State and a totally free market would lead to failure, ideas clearly outlined in the preamble of the Liberal Democrat Constitution with the emphasis on education also reflected in our policy. This was a watershed moment, and one that would define the trajectory of his future Governments, and was well received by Conference compared to Gaitskell's attempts to force through his agenda to the point George Brown, who had opposed Wilson in the leadership race would state "Although I had doubts about how we reached our leadership decision six months ago, I consider it an honour to pay tribute to the way we are being led now." Wilson's attempt at uniting the factions of Labour behind him had succeeded.
Throughout 1964 the new Conservative Prime Minister and former Peer Alec Douglas-Home would avoid calling an election, as after the Profumo Scandal all credibility the Conservatives had left had dried up, this led to an unusual period of extended campaigning as the Tories had to combat a Labour that was ramping up action in hopes of an early election. During this campaign Wilson would fully shed his Statesman-like identity to present himself as a man of the people, in tune with modernity. In March 1964 he would appear on TV to present the Show Biz Top Award to The Beatles, the most popular band of the day - in which he cracked jokes about trying to stay "non-political" while reading a negative review about the band from a Right-wing paper to much laughter. This would become emblematic of his youthful campaign style, with an American-style convention in Wembley showcasing the growing multicultural nature of Britain through the employment of a Pakistani Dance show during the convention. Wilson also avoided dealing with the old papers that were already hostile to Labour, opting instead to use the emerging medium of Television to get his message out, which contrasted him with the aristocratic Earl Home, who struggled to keep up with the more rapid pace of debate and campaigning outside of the Lords, with his perceived old-fashioned demeanour perhaps best being exemplified by his By-Election campaign, when the ironically named George Younger, a 31 year old Tory Candidate stepped aside to let Home run.
In this way, Liberals may have a thing or two to learn from Harold Wilson's campaign strategy, we are stuck wondering why the papers and news channels seem completely disinterested in our sensible discussion, using increasingly absurd stunts to try and get more air time, despite several studies and polls suggesting they're not successful. The truth is that in an era where podcasts and short snappy clips are key, we are not using Social Media effectively; this has been key to the rise of Reform and the Greens, and has contributed our slump into fifth place in the polls. It may be time we, like Wilson's Labour, become a Party of the People, instead of appealing to the old and tired Tories, that are flocking to Reform like a lifeboat.
The election night on the 15th of October 1964 would prove tense as in the closing months of the 1964 race the Conservatives had managed to close the gap between themselves and Labour by resorting to increasing anti-immigration rhetoric, defending their 1962 restrictions on further Commonwealth immigration, a discourse that had become increasing prevelant among much of the white working classes after the Empire Windrush first brought across black workers from the Caribbean to help with reconstruction in 1948. This significantly undercut Wilson's Campaign for racial equality to be enshrined in law, and when the night was over, there would be under a single percentage point between the Conservatives and Labour's results, securing Labour a slim majority of four Seats. Wilson had successfully united Labour and become the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Rosebery in 1894, but his mandate was limited, and time would tell if he would be able to pass the Liberal reforms he promised in his Manifesto and campaign.
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