Harold Wilson: The Winner

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When, in 1954, Sir Raymond Streat, chair of the Cotton Board, was shown Wilson’s plans for reorganising the industry, he was horrified: “He has a fantastic belief in the power of the government and individual ministers to supervise and decide things for the public good. Nevertheless, the author points to the many government reforms that civilised Britain in ways that we now take for granted. Perhaps indeed there is no rapid way of increasing growth, which depends more upon deep-seated cultural factors than on short-term economic policy. Thomas-Symonds, however, would like us to see Wilson’s Britain as a different place to Thatcher’s: a modern country, socially liberal, anti-racist and in Europe.

Harold Wilson by Nick Thomas-Symonds | Waterstones Harold Wilson by Nick Thomas-Symonds | Waterstones

Harold Wilson is the only post-war leader of any party to serve as Britain's Prime Minister on two separate occasions.There are fewer “secrets” in the archives than many imagine, and this biography, though very well written, should be read as the case for the defence rather than for new discoveries.

Harold Wilson Lecture 2023 - Harold Wilson: The Winner The Annual Harold Wilson Lecture 2023 - Harold Wilson: The Winner

Log in Keep reading with a freetrial Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free.The section on how Wilson handled the 1975 referendum to confirm Britain’s membership of the common market is an excellent, crisp account of how he defended what he saw as the national interest while leading a party that was swinging against Europe. Without the prime minister’s blessing, parliamentary time would never have been found to abolish capital punishment, liberalise the laws on homosexuality, divorce and abortion, or for the first positive action to promote racial equality. It is in the manner of his entering No 10, however, that the Wilson parallels are most likely to be relevant.