Harold Wilson The Unprincipled Prime Minister

The year 2016 marks the centenary of Harold Wilson’s birth and the 50th anniversary of his most impressive general election victory. Wilson was one of the longest serving prime ministers of the twentieth century and won more general elections than any other Labour leader. His place in Labour history is ambiguous, however, and he inspires neither the affection of Clement Attlee nor the grudging respect of Tony Blair. This is partly because his own contemporaries have been critical of his record. For the radical left his governments were seen as periods of betrayal, with Wilson trying to manage capitalism rather than outright replace it with socialism. In contrast, he was derided from the right as contributing directly to British decline. This remarkable new study offers a comprehensive and timely reappraisal of the man and his record, examining the context within which he operated, his approach to leadership and responses to changing social and economic norms, the successes and failure of his policies, and how he was viewed by peers from across the political spectrum. Finally, it examines the overall impact of Harold Wilson on the development of British politics. With contributions from leading experts in the fields of political study, and from Wilson’s own contemporaries, this book is an important new assessment of one of the political giants of twentieth-century politics.