Harold Wilson- British Prime Minister 1916-1995

British statesman Harold Wilson began his career as an economics lecturer at Oxford, where he had taken his degree.

Elected to Parliament in 1945, Wilson served as Chairman of the Board of Trade from 1947 to 1951. Wilson soon became the leading Labour Party spokesman on economic issues.

In 1963, Wilson became the leader of the Labour Party and in 1964, he led the party to a narrow election victory, thereby becoming Prime Minister.

In 1966, his party won a much larger victory, giving him a comfortable parliamentary majority.

Wilson faced numerous economic problems, as well as foreign policy dilemmas posed by Rhodesian independence and DeGaulle's opposition to British entry into the Common Market. The Labour Party lost the 1970 general election, but won again in 1974. Wilson resigned in 1976.