Wilson (of Rievaulx), (James) Harold Wilson, Baron 1916-95
English Labour politician

Born in Huddersfield, he was educated there, in Cheshire and at Oxford, where he became a lecturer in economics in 1937. In 1943-44 he was director of economics and statistics at the Ministry of Fuel and Power. Becoming MP for Ormskirk in 1945, he was then appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works. In 1947 he became successively Secretary for Overseas Trade and President of the Board of Trade until his resignation on the tide of Bevanism in April 1951. In 1951 and 1955 he was re-elected MP for Huyton, the division he had represented since 1950. The youngest Cabinet Minister since William Pitt, the Younger, after 1956, when he headed the voting for the Labour Shadow Cabinet, he became the principal Opposition Spokesman on Economic Affairs. An able and hard-hitting debater, in 1963 he succeeded Hugh Gaitskell as leader of the Labour Party,becoming Prime Minister in 1964 with a precariously small majority and being re-elected in 1966 with comfortably large support. His government's economic plans were badly affected at home by the balance of payments crisis, leading to severe restrictive measures. Abroad he was faced with the Rhodesian problem (increasingly severe economic sanctions being applied), continued intransigence from de Gaulle over Great Britain's proposed entry into the Common Market, and the important question of Britain's new status in world politics as a lesser power. His party lost power in the 1970 general election and he became Leader of the Opposition, but then he led them back into government in 1974, resigning as Labour leader two years later. He was knighted in 1976 and created a life peer in 1983. Although he cultivated a homely, man-of-the-people public image he was noted for his skill as a debater, and is considered to have been one of the shrewdest political operators of the 20th century. His Memoirs were published in 1986.