Harold Wilson was leader of the Labour Party from 1963-1976 and led Labour to 4 general election victories, through some of the most turbulent political times Britain had seen in the post-war era.
He changed the party and the country - but his legacy is mixed. He has come under fire from those who have argued he lacked principles, whilst others have argued it was these tactics that allowed him to keep Labour in government.
With amazing guests: Lewis Baston, Jon Davis, Edmund Fawcett, Alan Johnson, Neil Kinnock, Linda McDougall, David Owen, Helen Parr,...
Harold Wilson was leader of the Labour Party from 1963-1976 and led Labour to 4 general election victories, through some of the most turbulent political times Britain had seen in the post-war era.
He changed the party and the country - but his legacy is mixed. He has come under fire from those who have argued he lacked principles, whilst others have argued it was these tactics that allowed him to keep Labour in government.
With amazing guests: Lewis Baston, Jon Davis, Edmund Fawcett, Alan Johnson, Neil Kinnock, Linda McDougall, David Owen, Helen Parr, Charlotte Lydia Riley, and Stephen Wall – this episode explores Wilson’s background, leadership and legacy.
Leading Labour is researched, presented and produced by Izzy Conn - find me on:
LinkedIn: Izzy Conn
X/Twitter: @izzy_conn_
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Edited by Will Barber-Taylor, host of the Debated Podcast.
LinkedIn: Will Barber-Taylor
X/Twitter: @WBarberTaylor
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Artwork by Francesca Lordan, Sky Creative.
Music by Rykard From.
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Find out more about the Institute of Historical Research here.
LINKS
Lewis Baston, Political historian and co-author of The Future Labour Promised: Modernisation and Labour’s Fight for Power, 1945-2001 with Brian Brivati (2001).
- https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Future_Labour_Promised.html?id=7NzfkQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
Jon Davis, Director of the Strand Group at King’s College London and author of Prime Ministers and Whitehall 1960-74 (2007).
- https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781847251695/Prime-Ministers-Whitehall-1960-74-Davis-1847251692/plp
Edmund Fawcett, author and journalist, and author of Conservatism: the Fight for a Tradition (2020).
- https://www.waterstones.com/book/conservatism/edmund-fawcett/9780691233994
Alan Johnson, former Home Secretary, Labour MP 1997 - 2017, and author of Harold Wilson (2024).
- https://swiftpress.com/book/harold-wilson/
Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party and current member of the House of Lords.
Linda McDougall, Historian and author of Marcia Williams: The Life and Times of Baroness Falkender (2023).
https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/marcia-williams
David Owen, minister in all of the Wilson governments and retired member of the House of Lords.
Helen Parr, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Keele University, and author of Britain’s Policy Towards the European Community: Harold Wilson and Britain’s World Role, 1964-1967 (2005).
- https://www.routledge.com/Britains-Policy-Towards-the-European-Community-Harold-Wilson-and-Britains-World-Role-1964-1967/Parr/p/book/9780714656144?srsltid=AfmBOoo_Zz9SUhs7oTX-WHYTV3hYFb3LUAX_PbW9sO_CXivCz86xHW-m
Charlotte Lydia Riley, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, and author of Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain (2024).
- https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442125/imperial-island-by-riley-charlotte-lydia/9781529923803
Stephen Wall, Former Ambassador, Political Expert and Historian, and author of Reluctant European: Britain and the European Union from 1945 to Brexit (2020).
- https://global.oup.com/academic/product/reluctant-european-9780198840671?cc=gb&lang=en&
