How many General Elections did Harold Wilson win as leader of the Labour Party
"team – it ought to be Kinnock and Hattersley"" while Gavin Laird, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, backed Hattersley as leader, Kinnock as his deputy. Of the four contenders who stood to replace Foot, Kinnock was favoured to win. The results of the election, held at Labour Party Conference, were: Neil Kinnock won the election with an outright majority and Roy Hattersley became his deputy, beating Michael Meacher. Kinnock remained leader until 1992. Kinnock fought in two further elections, both unsuccessfully. He failed to beat Margaret Thatcher in the 1987 general election despite gaining some seats."
"and 2005, and Harold Wilson, who won three general elections out of five contested, in 1964, 1966 and October 1974. Unlike other British political party leaders, the Labour Leader does not have the power to dismiss or appoint their Deputy. Both the Leader and Deputy Leader are elected by an Alternative Vote system. From 1980 to 2014 an electoral college was used, with a third of the votes allocated to the Party's MPs and MEPs, a third to individual members of the Labour Party, and a third to individual members of all affiliated organisations, including socialist societies and trade unions."
"third in the leadership contest, which was won by Harold Wilson. However, he did gain the support of right-wingers, such as Denis Healey and Anthony Crosland, who wanted to prevent Wilson from being elected leader but who also did not trust George Brown. In October 1964, Conservative Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home (who had only been in power for 12 months since the resignation of Harold Macmillan) was forced to call a general election, the parliament being about to expire. Labour won a narrow majority, gaining 56 seats for a total of 317 to the Conservatives' 304. The new Labour"
"nationalisation and Gaitskell wanted scrapped). Under Gaitskell, Labour lost their third general election in a row in 1959. In 1963, Gaitskell's sudden death from a rare illness made way for Harold Wilson to lead the party. A downturn in the economy and a series of scandals in the early 1960s (the most notorious being the Profumo affair) had engulfed the Conservative government by 1963. The Labour Party returned to government with a 4-seat majority under Wilson in the 1964 general election but increased its majority to 96 in the 1966 general election. Wilson's government was responsible for a number of"
"in his book that Labour's supposed steady shift from Socialism and its neglect of support for the working-class people of Britain began to show during the Party's years under Harold Wilson. In the book, Osler claimed that the Party is now only a socialist party and indeed a ""Labour"" party in name only and is a capitalism-embracing Party which differs little from the Tory Party. Other historians have also argued that Old Labour's record in putting its social democratic ideals into practice was less successful than comparable northern European sister parties. The Labour Party won the 1997 general election with"
"Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, had contested the October 1974 general election with a commitment to renegotiate Britain's terms of membership of the EC and then hold a referendum on whether to remain in the EC on the new terms. All of the major political parties and the mainstream press supported continuing membership of the EC. However, there were significant divides within the ruling Labour Party; a 1975 one-day party conference voted by two to one in favour of withdrawal, and seven of the 23 cabinet ministers were opposed to EC membership, with Harold Wilson suspending the constitutional convention"
"for the party, heavily based on the success of the centralised industries of France and West Germany, by the 1960s the latter's economy surpassing the UK for the first time since 1915 as Europe's largest economy. Harold Wilson and Anthony Wedgwood Benn further developed the idea, becoming the backbone of the party's manifesto for the 1964 election. Britain's economy remained strong with low unemployment into the 1960s, but towards the end of the decade this growth began to slow and unemployment was rising again. Harold Wilson, the Labour leader who had ended 13 years of Conservative rule with a narrow"
"of most observers, was defeated at the polls by the Conservatives under Edward Heath. Members of the Cabinet are in bold face. Labour government, 1964–1970 Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 October 1964 and formed the first Wilson ministry, a Labour Party government, which held office with a thin majority between 1964 and 1966. In an attempt to gain a workable majority in the House of Commons, Wilson called a new election for 31 March 1966, after which he formed the second Wilson ministry, a government which held office for"
"Party led by Harold Wilson narrowly won the 1964 general election, manual workers had accounted for 63%. Furthermore, they were beginning to turn against the trade unions – alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978–9. In contrast, Conservative policies stressed wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies focused on economic liberalism, using populism, and pragmatism, known as Thatcherism. Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives intended to reverse high unemployment"
"Harold Wilson. Douglas-Home became Leader of the Opposition. In July 1965, Edward Heath defeated Reginald Maudling and Enoch Powell to succeed him as Conservative Party leader. Enoch Powell was given the post of Shadow Defence Secretary and became a figure of national prominence when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in 1968, warning on the dangers of mass immigration from Commonwealth nations. It is possible that the Conservatives' success in the 1970 general election was a result of the large public following Powell attained, even as he was sacked from the shadow cabinet. In 1964, Labour regained the"
"1964 United Kingdom general election The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on 15 October 1964, five years after the previous election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party, first led by Winston Churchill, had entered power. It resulted in the Conservatives, now led by its fourth leader, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, narrowly losing the election to the Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, with Labour having an overall majority of four seats. It resulted in Labour ending its thirteen years in the political wilderness and led to Wilson to become, at the time, the youngest Prime Minister in more"
"reach 40% of the popular vote. In a bid for Labour to gain a majority, a second election was soon called for October 1974 in which Labour, still with Harold Wilson as leader, scraped a majority of three, gaining just 18 seats and taking their total to 319. Britain had entered the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 while Edward Heath was Prime Minister. Although Harold Wilson and the Labour party had opposed this, in government Wilson switched to backing membership, but was defeated in a special one day Labour conference on the issue leading to a national referendum on"
"Labour government, 1964–1970 Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 October 1964 and formed the first Wilson ministry, a Labour Party government, which held office with a thin majority between 1964 and 1966. In an attempt to gain a workable majority in the House of Commons, Wilson called a new election for 31 March 1966, after which he formed the second Wilson ministry, a government which held office for four years until 1970. The Labour Party won the 1964 general election by a majority of four seats. The Profumo affair had"
"February 1974 United Kingdom general election The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on the 28th day of that month. Labour made large gains, but was short of a majority. Their leader Harold Wilson became Prime Minister after Conservative Edward Heath was unable to form a coalition. There was a hung parliament, as Conservatives won more votes but fewer seats. Labour won 301 seats, which was 17 seats short of an overall majority. This election saw Northern Ireland diverging heavily from the rest of the United Kingdom, with all twelve MPs elected being from local parties (eleven of"
"1966 United Kingdom general election The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was won by incumbent Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson and was regarded as an easy victory. Wilson's decision to call a snap election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964, had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs. The Labour government was returned following this snap election with a much larger majority of 96 seats. Prior to the 1966 general election, Labour had performed poorly in local elections in 1965, and lost a by-election, cutting their"
"The party was also victorious in 2001 and 2005, making Blair Labour's longest-serving Prime Minister and the first to win three consecutive general elections. Indeed, he was the first Labour leader to win a general election since Harold Wilson in 1974. In the months following Labour's 1997 election victory, referendums were held in Scotland and Wales regarding devolution. There was a clear majority supporting devolution in Scotland and a narrower majority in Wales—Scotland received a stronger degree of devolution than Wales. The Labour government passed laws in 1998 to establish a Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, the first elections for"
"issue, Harold Wilson's Labour Government lodged the UK's second application (in May 1967) to join the European Community, as it was now called. Like the first, though, it was vetoed by de Gaulle. In 1973, with DeGaulle gone, Conservative Prime Minister Heath negotiated terms for admission and Britain finally joined the Community. In opposition, the Labour Party was deeply divided, though its Leader, Harold Wilson, remained in favour. In the 1974 General Election, the Labour Party manifesto included a pledge to renegotiate terms for Britain's membership and then hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EC on the"
"government was led by Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson for eight months after the February 1974 general election produced a hung parliament. In the October 1974 general election, the Labour Party gained 18 seats, giving Wilson a majority of three. A hung parliament may also lead to the formation of a coalition government in which two or more parties negotiate a joint programme to command a majority in the Commons. Coalitions have also been formed during times of national crisis such as war. Under such circumstances, the parties agree to temporarily set aside their political differences and to unite to"
"party had a majority of seats. The incumbent Conservative Party won the popular vote, but Labour took a plurality of seats. Edward Heath, the Conservative Prime Minister, attempted to negotiate a coalition agreement with the Liberal Party, but resigned as Prime Minister after failing in this regard. The Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, then established a minority government, which took office on 4 March 1974. It was recognised that this had no long-term stability, and that another general election was likely within a few months. Wilson called for another general election for 10 October, which resulted in a narrow"
"government resigned. Labour came to power in March 1974, its leader Harold Wilson having accepted the Royal invitation to form a minority government. Wilson called a second election for October 1974, which gave Labour a wafer-thin majority of three MPs. The Labour Government implemented pay restraint to control global inflation, coupled with stagnation and unemployment at record post-war levels. Wilson resigned in 1976 in poorer health, on turning 60, and James Callaghan became Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. By-elections and defections whittled away Labour's majority, which technically was non-existent by April 1976 in the House of Commons"
"Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916– 24 May 1995) was a British Labour politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976. Entering Parliament in 1945, Wilson was appointed a parliamentary secretary in the Attlee ministry and rose quickly through the ministerial ranks; he became Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1947 and was elevated to Cabinet shortly thereafter as President of the Board of Trade. In opposition to the next Conservative government, he served as Shadow Chancellor (19551961) and Shadow Foreign Secretary (19611963). Hugh Gaitskell,"
"heavy defeat at the hands of the other parties. The channel also broadcast recorded coverage of the presentation of the Irish government's 2012 budget in the Dáil Éireann in December 2011. On Thursday 14 February, BBC Parliament broadcast an evening of selected archive programmes under the title ""Harold Wilson Night"". Presented by Peter Snow, the five-hour block of programming marked the 50th anniversary of the election of Harold Wilson as leader of the Labour Party on 14 February 1963, the longest serving and most electorally successful Labour Prime Minister of the 20th century. The sequence of programmes, which included Harold"
"way for Harold Wilson and Labour to return to power as a minority government. Heath's hopes of returning to power later in the year were ended when Labour won the October 1974 election with an overall majority of three seats. Loss of power weakened Heath's control over the party and Margaret Thatcher deposed him in the 1975 leadership election. The UK in the 1970s had seen sustained high inflation rates, which were above 20% at the time of the leadership election, subsequently falling to below 10%; unemployment had risen, and over the winter of 1978–79 there was a series of"
"Britain. The election on 28 February 1974 resulted in a hung parliament, in which the Tories had the most votes but Labour had the most seats. After talks with the Liberals about forming a coalition government failed, Labour formed a minority government on 4 March. A second general election was widely anticipated later in 1974, and was called by Harold Wilson for 10 October, in which the Labour Party gained a three-seat majority. This meant that Wilson had now won four of the five general elections he had contested, while Heath had now lost three of his four general elections,"
"became the first Leader of the Labour Party to have been born in England; prior to this, all party leaders had been born in Scotland. In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald became the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority administration which lasted nine months. Clement Attlee would become the first Labour leader to lead a majority government in 1945. The first to be born in Wales was Neil Kinnock, who was elected in 1983. The most electorally successful Leaders of the Labour Party to date are: Tony Blair, who won three consecutive electoral victories in 1997, 2001 (both landslide victories),"
"premiership, as Harold Wilson narrowly won the general election with a majority of five. This was not sufficient to last for a full term and, after a short period of competent government, in March 1966, he won re-election with a landslide majority of 99. As Prime Minister, his opponents accused him of deviousness, especially over the matter of devaluation of the pound in November 1967. Wilson had rejected devaluation for many years, yet in his broadcast had seemed to present it as a triumph. Wilson regarded with special pride setting up the Open University as a model for Europe. Plans"
"has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support, though it would usually be the leader of the largest party. Since 1945, there have only been three hung parliaments. The first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilson's Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party. The second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives (the largest party) and Liberal Democrats (the third largest party) agreed to"
"then party leader, died unexpectedly in 1963 and Wilson was elected leader. Narrowly winning the 1964 general election, Wilson won an increased majority in a snap 1966 election. Wilson's first period as Prime Minister coincided with a period of low unemployment and relative economic prosperity, though hindered by significant problems with Britain's external balance of payments. In 1969 he sent British troops to Northern Ireland. After losing the 1970 election to Edward Heath, he spent four years as Leader of the Opposition before the February 1974 election resulted in a hung parliament. After Heath's talks with the Liberals broke down,"
"James Callaghan had succeeded Harold Wilson as Labour leader and prime minister in March 1976, and in September 1978 resisted calls to hold a general election, despite improving economic conditions and opinion polls which showed Labour well placed to win a parliamentary majority. However, this proved to be a disastrous miscalculation by Callaghan, which the Tories took advantage of, as the Winter of Discontent followed and the Tories were ascendant in the opinion polls. A vote of no confidence was delivered against Callaghan's government in March 1979, and the Tories won the 1979 general election with a majority of 43"
"in 1974–79, under Wilson and then James Callaghan. Escalating economic crises (the ""Winter of Discontent"") and a split with David Owen and others forming the SDP, resulted in Opposition status during the Thatcher years, 1979–1990. Labour returned with a 179-seat majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair. The party's large majority in the House of Commons was slightly reduced to 167 in the 2001 general election and more substantially reduced to 66 in 2005. Under Gordon Brown it was defeated in the 2010 general election, becoming the Opposition to a Conservative/Liberal-Democrat coalition. After further losses"
"Harold Wilson"", in which Wilson is revealed to have been a KGB Agent recruited during his University years at Oxford by his tutor, his attempts to flee the country in November 1975 when activated going awry. The 1980s sitcom ""Fairly Secret Army"" centres around a paramilitary group created to stage a coup in order to rescue Britain from trade union militancy. Harold Wilson conspiracy theories Since the mid-1970s, a variety of conspiracy theories have emerged regarding British Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976,"
"the Conservative winner. He was shortlisted for the Labour candidacy in Wallasey, which was a marginal constituency, before the October 1974 general election, although he was not selected. He was chairman of Labour Party Young Socialists in the Northern Region for 1970-71. Hughes had in 1973 been elected to Merseyside County Council, serving one term until 1977. He became chairman of Huyton Constituency Labour Party in 1974, an office which had additional significance because the local Labour MP was Harold Wilson who was then Prime Minister. In later years Hughes was able to regale friends with anecdotes about Wilson's time"
"Both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party were divided over the issue, and the European Communities Act 1972 was passed due to sufficient Labour abstentions to counteract the number of rebel Tories. In the run-up to the UK General Election February 1974, the Labour Party manifesto promised a Referendum 'on renegotiated terms', which its leader, Harold Wilson, hoped would end the division of his party. However the election proved indecisive and marked the end of Heath's premiership as Prime Minister and Wilson was forced to call a second election later in the year. After the UK General Election October"