Editing Harold Wilson (section)

== In Opposition (1951–1964) ==
===Shadow Cabinet, 1954–1963===
[[File:Harold Wilson (cropped).jpg|thumb|Wilson in 1962]]

Wilson had never made much secret that his support of the left-wing Aneurin Bevan was opportunistic. In early 1954, Bevan resigned from the [[Shadow Cabinet (UK)|Shadow Cabinet]] (elected by Labour MPs when the party was in opposition) over Labour's support for the setting-up of the [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]] (SEATO). Wilson, who had been runner-up in the elections, stepped up to fill the vacant place. He was supported in this by [[Richard Crossman]], but his actions angered Bevan and the other Bevanites.<ref>Campbell 1987, p. 289.</ref>

Wilson's course in intra-party matters in the 1950s and early 1960s left him neither fully accepted nor trusted by the left or the right in the Labour Party. Despite his earlier association with Bevan, in [[1955 Labour Party leadership election|1955]] he backed [[Hugh Gaitskell]], the right-wing candidate in internal Labour Party terms, against Bevan for the [[1955 Labour Party leadership election|party leadership election]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Geoffrey |title=Harold Wilson: Leading Labour beyond pipe dreams |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,,563492,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=25 May 1995 |access-date=24 December 2007 |archive-date=31 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231165647/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicsobituaries/story/0,,563492,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Gaitskell appointed him [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in 1955, and he proved to be very effective.<ref>Pimlott, pp. 211–12.</ref> One of his procedural moves caused a substantial delay to the progress of the Government's [[Finance Bill]] in 1955, and his speeches as Shadow Chancellor from 1956 were widely praised for their clarity and wit. He coined the term "[[Gnomes of Zurich]]" to ridicule [[Swiss bank]]ers for selling Britain short and pushing the [[pound sterling]] down by speculation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crines |first1=Andrew&nbsp;S. |last2=Hickson |first2=Kevin |title=Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister?: A Reappraisal of Harold Wilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-qzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 |publisher=Biteback |date=2016 |page=62 |isbn=9781785900587 |access-date=15 January 2019 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204104636/https://books.google.com/books?id=N-qzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 |url-status=live}}</ref> He conducted an inquiry into the Labour Party's organisation following its defeat in the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 general election]]; its report compared Labour's organisation to an antiquated "[[penny farthing]]" bicycle, and made various recommendations for improvements.<ref>Pimlott, pp. 194–196.</ref> Unusually, Wilson combined the job of Chairman of the House of Commons' [[Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]] with that of Shadow Chancellor from 1959, holding that position until 1963.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}

Gaitskell's leadership was weakened after the Labour Party's [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 defeat]], his controversial attempt to ditch Labour's commitment to nationalisation by scrapping [[Clause Four]], and his defeat at the 1960 Party Conference over a motion supporting [[unilateral nuclear disarmament]]. Bevan had died in July 1960, so Wilson established himself as a leader of the Labour left by launching an opportunistic but unsuccessful [[1960 Labour Party leadership election|challenge to Gaitskell's leadership in November 1960]]. Wilson would later be moved to the position of [[Shadow Foreign Secretary]] in 1961, before he challenged for the deputy leadership in 1962 but was defeated by [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]].{{Cn|date=February 2025}}

===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>