Harold Wilson

This article is about the British politician. For the Olympic silver medallist, see Harold A. Wilson.

In Parliament

As the War drew to an end, he began searching for a seat to fight at the impending general election. Eventually he was selected for Ormskirk, which was then held by Stephen King-Hall. Wilson accidentally agreed to be adopted as the candidate immediately rather than delay until the election was called, and was therefore compelled to resign from the Civil Service. He used the time in between to write A New Deal for Coal which used his wartime experience to argue for nationalisation of the coal mines on the basis of improved efficiency.

Related Topics:
General election - Ormskirk - Stephen King-Hall - Nationalisation

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In the 1945 general election, Wilson won his seat in line with the Labour landslide. To his surprise he was immediately appointed to the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works. Two years later he became Secretary for Overseas Trade, in which capacity he made several trips to the Soviet Union to negotiate supplies. Opponents would later class these trips as suspicious.

Related Topics:
1945 - Parliamentary Secretary - Ministry of Works - Soviet Union

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On 14 October 1947 Wilson was appointed President of the Board of Trade and became the youngest member of the Cabinet in the 20th century. He took a lead in abolishing some of the wartime rationing, which he referred to as a "bonfire of controls". In the general election of 1950, his constituency was altered and he was narrowly elected for the new seat of Huyton.

Related Topics:
14 October - 1947 - President of the Board of Trade - 20th century - Rationing - 1950 - Huyton

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Wilson was becoming known as a left-winger and joined Aneurin Bevan in resigning from the government in April 1951 in protest at the introduction of NHS medical charges in order to meet the financial demands imposed on the budget by the Korean War. After the Labour Party lost the general election later that year, he was made chairman of Bevan's "Keep Left" group, but shortly thereafter he distanced himself from Bevan. By coincidence, it was Bevan's further resignation from the Shadow Cabinet in 1954 that put Wilson back on the front bench.

Related Topics:
Left-winger - Aneurin Bevan - 1951 - NHS - Korean War - 1954

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