James Harold Wilson

Son of an industrial chemist; attended Royds Hall Secondary School, Huddersfield, and Wirral Grammar School for Boys, Bebington; studied modern history, philosophy, politics and economics at Jesus College, Oxford (1934-1937), graduating with a bachelor's degree (First Class); pursued an academic and teaching career at Oxford (1937-1939); volunteered for military service during World War II, but was instead moved into the Civil Service; worked as statistician and economist for the coal industry; served as Director of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Fuel and Power (1943-1944); was elected Labour Member of Parliament in 1945 (MP for Ormskirk, 1945-1950, MP for Huyton 1950-1983); was approved as Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Works (4 Aug 1945 - 5 Mar 1947) in the government of Clement Attlee; briefly held the office of Parliamentary Secretary, Board of Trade (Secretary for Overseas Trade) (5 Mar 1947 - 7 Oct 1947); sworn in as a member of the U.K. Privy Council (14 Oct 1947); was appointed President of the Board of Trade (14 Oct 1947 - 28 Apr 1951); was a member of the Shadow Cabinet in opposition; elected Leader of the Labour Party (14 Feb 1963 - 5 Apr 1976) having defeated George Brown; with the victory of the Labour Party in the General Election (15 Oct 1964: Labour 317, Conservative and associates 304, Liberal 9), he was appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury (16 Oct 1964 - 19 Jun 1970); sought to introduce a scientific and technological revolution in the country; promoted greater cooperation between the Labour Party and the trade unions; the General Election in 1966 (31 Mar 1966: Labour 363, Conservatives and associates 253, Liberal 12, others 2) resulted in a greatly increased parliamentary majority for the Labour Party; despite harsh economic sanctions, he failed to resolve the conflict caused by the proclamation of independence of Rhodesia (1965); secured all-party support for sending British troops to Northern Ireland (Downing Street Declaration, 19 Aug 1969); resigned after the victory of the Conservative Party in the 1970 General Election; was official Leader of the Opposition from 1970 to 1974; returned to power after the 1974 General Election (28 Feb 1974: Labour 301, Conservative 296, Liberal 14, Ulster Unionist 7, Scottish National Party 7, others 10) resulted in a lack of parliamentary majority; was appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury (4 Mar 1974 - 5 Apr 1976); after the second General Election of the year (10 Oct 1974: Labour 319, Conservative 276, Liberal 13, Scottish National Party 11, Ulster Unionists 10, Plaid Cymru 3, others 3), he was able to form a government with a narrow overall majority in Parliament; held a referendum (5 Jun 1975) which confirmed U.K. membership of the European Communities; unsuccessfully tried to mediate between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots following the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey; on 16 Mar 1976 made the unexpected announcement on his upcoming resignation, citing among other reasons the need to give his successor time to develop fresh policies for the next election. Biography source: [13]