"Wilson was in himself a new and deadly threat to the Government. He was a formidable parliamentary debater with a rapier wit... [H]e could get under Harold Macmillan's skin in a way Hugh Gaitskell never could. While Gaitskell was more of a statesman than Wilson, Wilson was an infinitely more accomplished politician... I can say little in favour of either of Harold Wilson's terms as Prime Minister. Doubtless he had principles, but they were so obscured by artful dodging that it was difficult for friends and opponents alike to decide what they might be. Yet I regretted his departure for several reasons. I had always liked him personally, I had appreciated his sense of humour, and I was aware of his many kindnesses. He was a master of Commons repartee, and I usually scored nothing better than a draw against him in the House."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandBritish peersLabour Party (UK) politiciansDemocratic socialists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Margaret Thatcher, The Path to Power (1995), pp. 128, 313
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harold_Wilson
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1976. He had an impressive educational background, becoming an Oxford don at 21 and working as a war time civil servant; he was made a government minister immediately after he was elected to Parliament. As Leader of the Labour Party he moved the party towards a technocratic approach and appeared more in tune with the 'swi
85 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Harold Wilson →
Related Quotes
"Traders and financiers all over the world had been listening to the Chancellor. For months he had said that if he cou…"
"We cannot accept that this is a little local matter within the control of South Africa's internal affairs. Oppression…"
"A second devaluation would be regarded all over the world as an acknowledgement of defeat, a recognition that we were…"
"I have stated these Commonwealth problems in terms of hard economic facts, but I should be the last to disagree with …"
"We all know perfectly well why the Government are standing by their policy of the independent deterrent. The reason i…"
"This party is a moral crusade or it is nothing."
"The period of 15 years from the last time we were in Scarborough, in 1960, to the middle of the 1970s, will embrace a…"
"In all our plans for the future, we are re-defining and we are re-stating our Socialism in terms of the scientific re…"
"This odious doctrine of apartheid at 11-plus. ... We reject it because as a nation we cannot afford artificially to s…"
"The nation yesterday was awaiting a clear, statesmanlike call from the Chancellor of the efforts and, if necessary, t…"