Editing Harold Wilson (section)

===Opposition Leader, 1963–64===
{{further|First Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson}}
Gaitskell died in January 1963, just as the Labour Party had begun to unite and appeared to have a very good chance of winning the next election, with the [[Harold Macmillan|Macmillan Government]] running into trouble. Timothy Heppell has explored how Wilson won the [[1963 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|Labour Party leadership election]]. Wilson had alienated the right wing of the party by his angry attempts to defeat Gaitskell in [[1960 Labour Party leadership election|1960]] for the leadership, and George Brown in [[1962 Labour Party deputy leadership election|1962]] for the deputy leadership. These misadventures gave Wilson a reputation for disloyalty and divisiveness. Heppell identifies three factors whereby Wilson overcame these disadvantages. Firstly, he had united the party's left wing behind him and they showed no willingness to compromise. Secondly, the right wing, although more numerous, was deeply split between Brown and [[James Callaghan]]. Wilson took the lead on the first ballot and gained momentum on the second. Finally, Brown proved a poor campaigner, emphasizing divisive factors rather than his own credentials, allowing Wilson to emerge, surprisingly, as the unity candidate, thus becoming the [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]] and the [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]].<ref>Timothy Heppell, "The Labour Party leadership election of 1963: Explaining the unexpected election of Harold Wilson." ''Contemporary British History'' 24.2 (2010): 151–171.</ref>

At the party's 1963 annual conference, Wilson made his best-remembered speech, on the implications of scientific and technological change. He argued that "the Britain that is going to be forged in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or for outdated measures on either side of industry". This speech did much to set Wilson's reputation as a technocrat not tied to the prevailing class system.<ref name="'70s">{{cite book |last=Frum |first=David |author-link=David Frum |title=How We Got Here: The '70s |url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/9 |url-access=registration |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York City |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/9 9] |isbn=978-0-465-04195-4}}</ref>

Labour's [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 election campaign]] was aided by the [[Profumo affair]], a ministerial sex scandal that had mortally wounded [[Harold Macmillan]] and hurt the Conservatives. Wilson made capital without getting involved in the less salubrious aspects. (Asked for a statement on the scandal, he reportedly said "No comment&nbsp;... in glorious [[Technicolor]]!").<ref>Pimlott, pp. 285–99.</ref> Sir [[Alec Douglas-Home]] was an [[British aristocracy|aristocrat]] who had given up his [[Peerages in the United Kingdom|peerage]] to sit in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and become prime minister upon Macmillan's resignation. To Wilson's comment that he was out of touch with ordinary people since he was the 14th [[Earl of Home]], Home retorted, "I suppose Mr. Wilson is the fourteenth Mr. Wilson".<ref>{{cite book|author=Crines and Hickson|title=Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister?: A Reappraisal of Harold Wilson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-qzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT258|year=2016|page=258|publisher=Biteback |isbn=9781785900587|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=8 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208210148/https://books.google.com/books?id=N-qzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT258|url-status=live}}</ref>