Harold Wilson Prime Minister of Great Britain Date of Birth: 11.03.1916 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the leader of the Labour Party, was born on March 11, 1916, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. He received a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, where he graduated with distinction in 1937.
During the Second World War, Wilson worked as an expert economist at the Ministry of Fuel and Power. In 1945, he won the parliamentary elections as a candidate from the Labour Party. From 1947 to 1951, as the Minister of Trade, he abolished several economic restrictions. In 1947, he gained recognition as a skilled diplomat in negotiations with the Soviet Union.
In 1963, Wilson was elected leader of the Labour Party. The dissatisfaction of the public with the conservative government brought the Labour Party an easy victory in the 1964 elections, and Wilson became the Prime Minister. While he had previously spoken out against the entry of the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community, he changed his position. Forced to introduce strict austerity measures, he reduced social welfare spending and devalued the pound.
After Wilson introduced restrictions on immigration from African and Asian countries to ease racial tensions in the United Kingdom, relations between England and African nations worsened. In 1970, the Labour Party suffered a defeat in the elections, and Wilson was forced to resign.
Afterward, he led the opposition to the political course of Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath. In 1974, when miners went on strike in response to the Prime Minister's refusal to guarantee them a real wage increase, Heath called for a general election in which the Labour Party won the majority of votes, allowing Harold Wilson to once again become the Prime Minister. Wilson increased miners' wages and introduced subsidies for several food products.
On March 16, 1976, Wilson unexpectedly stepped down as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, handing over the positions to James Callaghan. In April 1976, Wilson was knighted, and in 1983, he received the title of Baron Wilson of Rievaulx. He died in London on May 24, 1995.