The Companies Investigation Branch (or CIB ) was part of the United Kingdom's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .
79-648: Headed by the Inspector of Companies, CIB exercises on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform the statutory powers of enquiry under the Companies Act 1985 and other legislation. These powers are exercisable throughout Great Britain , but not in Northern Ireland . Information obtained can be passed to other regulators for action; can result in the courts being petitioned to wind up
158-461: A Labourite of Wilson's generation, given its role in both opening up opportunities for ambitious youth from working-class backgrounds and enabling Britain to seize the potential benefits of scientific advances. Under the first Wilson government, for the first time in British history, more money was allocated to education than to defence. Wilson continued the rapid creation of new universities, in line with
237-399: A broad range of reforms during its time in office, in such areas as social security, civil liberties, housing, health, education, and worker's rights. It is perhaps best remembered for the liberal social reforms introduced or supported by Home Secretary Roy Jenkins . Notable amongst these was the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality and abortion , reform of divorce laws,
316-538: A combined degree of philosophy, politics, and economics at Jesus College, Oxford . He was later an Economic History lecturer at New College, Oxford , and a research fellow at University College, Oxford . Elected to Parliament in 1945, Wilson was appointed to the Attlee government as a Parliamentary Secretary ; he became Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1947, and was elevated to the Cabinet shortly thereafter as President of
395-407: A devaluation would disproportionately harm low-income Britons with savings and poorer Commonwealth of Nations countries in the sterling area . The government instead opted to deal with the problem by imposing a temporary surcharge on imports, and a series of deflationary measures designed to reduce demand and therefore the inflow of imports. In the latter half of 1967, an attempt was made to prevent
474-541: A much-reproduced photograph was taken of him standing on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street . At the age of ten, he went with his family to Australia, where he became fascinated with the pomp and glamour of politics. On the way home, he told his mother, "I am going to be prime minister." Wilson won a scholarship to attend Royds Hall Grammar School , his local grammar school (now a comprehensive school) in Huddersfield , Yorkshire. His father, working as an industrial chemist,
553-584: A pathway to growth, embodied in the DEA and Mintech, was at the time by no means confined to the Labour Party. Wilson built on foundations that had been laid by his Conservative predecessors, in the shape, for example, of the National Economic Development Council (known as "Neddy") and its regional counterparts (the "little Neddies"). Government intervention in industry was greatly enhanced, with
632-427: A priority to reduce wartime rationing , which he referred to as a "bonfire of controls". Wilson decided that the massive number of wartime controls was slowing the conversion to peacetime prosperity and he was committed to removing them as fast as possible. He ended rationing of potatoes, bread and jam, as well as shoes and some other clothing controls. In November 1948 Wilson announced his Board of Trade had removed
711-532: A research fellow at University College . On the outbreak of the Second World War , Wilson volunteered for military service, but was classed as a specialist and moved into the civil service instead. For much of this time, he was a research assistant to William Beveridge , the Master of University College, working on the issues of unemployment and the trade cycle. Wilson later became a statistician and economist for
790-420: A round of competitive devaluations, and concern about the impact price rises following a devaluation would have on people on low incomes. The government's decision over its first three years to defend sterling's parity with traditional deflationary measures ran counter to hopes for an expansionist push for growth. The National Plan produced by the DEA in 1965 targeted an annual growth rate of 3.8%, however, under
869-503: A time when unemployment stood at around 400,000. It still stood at 371,000 by early 1966 after a steady fall during 1965, but by March 1967 it stood at 631,000. It fell again towards the end of the decade, standing at 582,000 by the time of the general election in June 1970. Despite the economic difficulties faced by Wilson's government, it was able to achieve important advances in several domestic policy areas. As reflected by Wilson in 1971: It
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#1733085474414948-737: Is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom , with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade . The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom . The incumbent business secretary is Jonathan Reynolds who was appointed by Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024. The Secretary of State is shadowed by the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade , currently Andrew Griffith since 2024. Corresponding to what
1027-499: Is generally known as a commerce minister in many other countries, the business secretary's remit includes: During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home , the then president of the Board of Trade , Edward Heath , was given in addition the job of secretary of state for industry, trade and regional development . This title was not continued under Harold Wilson , but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge functions of
1106-1048: Is required. On 1 April 2006 CIB became part of the Insolvency Service , an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, though its functions are unchanged. This article related to government in the United Kingdom or its constituent countries is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary) ,
1185-492: Is still disputed in historiography. Some scholars praise his unprecedented electoral success for a Labour prime minister and holistic approach to governance, while others criticise his political style and handling of economic issues. Several key issues which he faced while prime minister included the role of public ownership, whether Britain should seek the membership of the European Communities, and British involvement in
1264-623: The 1945 general election , Wilson won his seat in the Labour landslide. To his surprise, he was immediately appointed to the government by Prime Minister Clement Attlee as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works . Two years later, he became Secretary for Overseas Trade , in which capacity he made several official trips to the Soviet Union to negotiate supply contracts. The boundaries of his Ormskirk constituency were significantly altered before
1343-456: The 1964 election . His first period as prime minister saw a period of low unemployment and economic prosperity; this was however hindered by significant problems with Britain's external balance of payments . His government oversaw significant societal changes, abolishing both capital punishment and theatre censorship , partially decriminalising male homosexuality in England and Wales, relaxing
1422-566: The Department for Energy and Climate Change into this department with the responsibilities for post-19 education and skills being returned to the Department for Education resulting in the position being renamed to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy . At the same time in July 2016, the post of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the newly created post of Secretary of State for International Trade . The current role of Secretary of State for Business and Trade
1501-461: The Department of Prices and Consumer Protection , resulting in the creation of three new positions: Secretary of State for Industry , Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection , and Secretary of State for Trade . The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. By 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by
1580-551: The Vietnam War . His stated ambitions of substantially improving Britain's long-term economic performance, applying technology more democratically, and reducing inequality were to some extent unfulfilled. Wilson was born at Warneford Road, Cowlersley , in the western suburbs of the mill town of Huddersfield , in the West Riding of Yorkshire , England, on 11 March 1916. He came from a political family: his father James Herbert Wilson
1659-510: The divorce laws , limiting immigration, outlawing racial discrimination , and liberalising birth control and abortion law . In the midst of this programme, Wilson called a snap election in 1966 , which Labour won with a much increased majority. His government armed Nigeria during the Biafran War . In 1969, he sent British troops to Northern Ireland . After losing the 1970 election to Edward Heath 's Conservatives , Wilson chose to remain in
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#17330854744141738-664: The general election of 1950 . He stood instead for the new seat of Huyton near Liverpool, and was narrowly elected; he served there for 33 years until 1983. Wilson was appointed President of the Board of Trade on 29 September 1947, becoming, at the age of 31, the youngest member of a British Cabinet in the 20th century. Initially Wilson favoured a more interventionist policy, seeking requirements for government officials to be seated on private boards of directors , further price controls , and nationalisations of private industries which opposed government policy. However, he abandoned these plans after his colleagues disagreed. He made it
1817-562: The Board of Trade . Following Labour's defeat at the 1955 election , Wilson joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor , and was moved to the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1961. When Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell died suddenly in January 1963, Wilson won the subsequent leadership election to replace him, becoming Leader of the Opposition. Wilson led Labour to a narrow victory at
1896-449: The Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry . The head of this department became known as the secretary of state for trade and industry and also retained the title of President of the Board of Trade . When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into the Department of Trade , the Department of Industry and
1975-583: The Exchequer Stafford Cripps having gone to Switzerland in an attempt to recover his health, Wilson was one of a group of three young ministers, all of them former economics dons and wartime civil servants, convened to advise Prime Minister Attlee on financial matters. The others were Douglas Jay ( Economic Secretary to the Treasury ) and Hugh Gaitskell ( Minister of Fuel and Power ), both of whom soon grew to distrust him. Jay wrote of Wilson's role in
2054-553: The Exchequer in 1955, and he proved to be very effective. 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 bankers for selling Britain short and pushing the pound sterling down by speculation. He conducted an inquiry into
2133-472: The Labour Party's organisation following its defeat in the 1955 general election ; its report compared Labour's organisation to an antiquated " penny farthing " bicycle, and made various recommendations for improvements. Unusually, Wilson combined the job of Chairman of the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee with that of Shadow Chancellor from 1959, holding that position until 1963. Gaitskell's leadership
2212-512: The Labour leadership, and resumed the role of Leader of the Opposition for four years before leading Labour through the February 1974 election , which resulted in a hung parliament . Wilson was appointed prime minister for a second time ; he called a snap election in October 1974, which gave Labour a small majority. During his second term as prime minister, Wilson oversaw the referendum that confirmed
2291-512: The National Economic Development Office greatly strengthened and the number of "little Neddies" was increased, from eight in 1964 to twenty-one in 1970. The government's policy of selective economic intervention was later characterised by the establishment of a new super-ministry of technology, a connexion not always publicly grasped, under Tony Benn . The continued relevance of industrial nationalisation (a centrepiece of
2370-513: The Open University. Money was also channelled into local-authority run colleges of education. Wilson's record on secondary education was motivated by growing pressure for the abolition of the selective principle underlying the " eleven-plus ", and replacement with Comprehensive schools which would serve the full range of children (see the article ' grammar schools debate '). Comprehensive education became Labour Party policy. From 1966 to 1970,
2449-473: The Opposition . 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
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2528-577: The UK's membership of the European Communities . In March 1976, Wilson suddenly announced his resignation as prime minister. He remained in the House of Commons until retiring in 1983 when he was elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Wilson of Rievaulx. While seen by admirers as leading the Labour Party through difficult political issues with considerable skill, Wilson's reputation was low when he left office and
2607-454: The United Kingdom , from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. He was Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, Leader of the Opposition twice from 1963 to 1964 and again from 1970 to 1974, and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983 . Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections. Born in Huddersfield , Yorkshire, to a politically active middle-class family, Wilson studied
2686-488: The abolition of theatre censorship and capital punishment (except for a small number of offences — notably high treason ) and various pieces of legislation addressing race relations and racial discrimination . His government also undertook the easing of means testing for non-contributory welfare benefits, the linking of pensions to earnings, and the provision of industrial-injury benefits. Wilson's government also made significant reforms to education , most notably
2765-442: The business policy responsibilities of BEIS, and the functions of the former Department for International Trade . Secretary of State for Industry Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection Secretary of State for Trade Harold Wilson [REDACTED] James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British statesman and politician who twice served as Prime Minister of
2844-506: The category of Peel , Gladstone , Asquith , and no one else. But...he lacked originality. What he was superb at was the quick assimilation of knowledge, combined with an ability to keep it ordered in his mind and to present it lucidly in a form welcome to his examiners. He continued in academia, becoming one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937, and
2923-625: The coal industry. He was Director of Economics and Statistics at the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1943–44 and was made an OBE for his services. He was to remain passionately interested in statistics, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in 1943. As President of the Board of Trade , he was the driving force behind the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, which is still the authority governing most economic statistics in Britain . He
3002-515: The company; can result in an application being made to the courts for individuals to be disqualified from acting as a director of, or in the management of, a company; or can be used in a criminal prosecution of a company or its officers. Civil servants within CIB carry out most investigations, although occasionally qualified individuals in the private sector are used – usually as a means of dealing with varying work loads, but sometimes because special expertise
3081-420: The day when a new Act would make it the right of a student, on leaving school, to have a place in an institution of further education. In 1966, Wilson was created the first Chancellor of the newly created University of Bradford , a position he held until 1985. Housing was a major policy area under the first Wilson government. During Wilson's time in office from 1964 to 1970, more new houses were built than in
3160-408: The debates over whether or not to devalue sterling that "he changed sides three times within eight days and finished up facing both ways". Wilson was given the task during his Swiss holiday of taking a letter to Cripps informing him of the decision to devalue, to which Cripps had been opposed. Wilson had tarnished his reputation in both political and official circles. Although a successful minister, he
3239-412: The devaluation, as economists had predicted. The devaluation, with accompanying austerity measures which ensured resources went into exports rather than domestic consumption, successfully restored the trade balance to surplus by 1969. In retrospect Wilson has been widely criticised for not devaluing earlier, however, he believed there were strong arguments against it, including the fear that it would set off
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3318-581: The effect of reducing housing costs for buyers on low incomes and enabling more people to become owner-occupiers. In addition, house owners were exempted from capital gains tax. Together with the Option Mortgage Scheme, this measure stimulated the private housing market. Wilson in a 1967 speech said: ''..the grime and muddle and decay of our Victorian heritage is being replaced. The new city centres with their university precincts, their light, clean and well-spaced civic buildings, will not merely brighten
3397-550: The election was called, and was therefore compelled to resign from his position in the Civil Service. He served as Praelector in Economics at University College between his resignation and his election to the House of Commons. He also used this time to write A New Deal for Coal , which used his wartime experience to argue for the nationalisation of the coal mines on the grounds of the improved efficiency he predicted would ensue. In
3476-462: The expansion of comprehensive education and the creation of the Open University . Wilson's government put faith in economic planning as a way to solve Britain's economic problems. The government's strategy involved setting up a Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) which would draw up a National Plan which was intended to promote growth and investment. Wilson believed that scientific progress
3555-756: The financial demands imposed by the Korean War . At this time, Wilson was not yet regarded as a heavyweight politician: Hugh Dalton referred to him scornfully as "Nye [Bevan]'s dog". After Labour lost the 1951 election , he became the Chairman of Keep Left, Bevan's political group. At the bitter Morecambe Conference in late 1952, Wilson was one of the Bevanites elected as constituency representatives to Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), whilst senior right-wingers such as Dalton and Herbert Morrison were voted off. Wilson had never made much secret that his support of
3634-478: The incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. Furthermore, 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. When Michael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed by Ian Lang and Margaret Beckett . Heseltine's decision to reuse
3713-599: The initial optimism. Upon coming to power, the government was informed that they had inherited an exceptionally large deficit of £800 million on Britain's balance of trade . This partly reflected the preceding government's expansive fiscal policy in the run-up to the 1964 election. Immediately the pound came under enormous pressure, and many economists advocated devaluation of the pound in response, but Wilson resisted, reportedly in part out of concern that Labour, which had previously devalued sterling in 1949, would become tagged as "the party of devaluation". Wilson also believed that
3792-561: The last six years of the previous Conservative government. The proportion of council housing rose from 42% to 50% of the total, while the number of council homes built increased steadily, from 119,000 in 1964 to 133,000 in 1965 and 142,000 in 1966. Allowing for demolitions, 1.3 million new homes were built between 1965 and 1970, To encourage homeownership, the government introduced the Option Mortgage Scheme (1968), which made low-income housebuyers eligible for subsidies (equivalent to tax relief on mortgage interest payments). This scheme had
3871-545: The left-wing Aneurin Bevan was opportunistic. In early 1954, Bevan resigned from the 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
3950-399: The need for over 200,000 licences and permits. By March 1949 he promised to remove the need for another 900,000, although meat remained in short supply and was still rationed, as was petrol. Henry Irvine argues that Wilson's success with the bonfire of controls established his reputation as a modernizing specialist, with both the general public and the political elite. Irving also argues that
4029-496: The old title caused some controversy, and it was discovered that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century. Under Gordon Brown 's premiership there were two re-namings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the post Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform . With this change, the Better Regulation Executive
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#17330854744144108-418: The other Bevanites. 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 he backed Hugh Gaitskell , the right-wing candidate in internal Labour Party terms, against Bevan for the party leadership election . Gaitskell appointed him Shadow Chancellor of
4187-770: The party's left-wing by renationalising the steel industry under the Iron and Steel Act 1967 (which had been denationalised by the Conservatives in the 1950s) creating the British Steel Corporation . One innovation of the Wilson government was the creation in 1968 of the Girobank , a publicly owned bank which operated via the General Post Office network: As most working-class people in the 1960s did not have bank accounts, this
4266-565: The position of Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1961, before he challenged for the deputy leadership in 1962 but was defeated by George Brown . 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 Macmillan Government running into trouble. Timothy Heppell has explored how Wilson won the Labour Party leadership election . Wilson had alienated
4345-538: The post-War Labour government's programme) had been a key point of contention in Labour's internal struggles of the 1950s and early 1960s. Wilson's predecessor as leader, Hugh Gaitskell , had tried in 1960 to tackle the controversy head-on, with a proposal to expunge Clause Four (the public ownership clause) from the party's constitution, but had been forced to climb down. Wilson took a characteristically more subtle approach: No significant expansion of public ownership took place under Wilson's government, however, he placated
4424-458: The prevailing class system. Labour's 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 ... in glorious Technicolor !"). Sir Alec Douglas-Home
4503-478: The proportion of children in comprehensive schools increased from about 10% to over 30%. Labour pressed local authorities to convert grammar schools into comprehensives. Conversion continued on a large scale during the subsequent Conservative Heath administration, although the Secretary of State, Margaret Thatcher , ended the compulsion of local governments to convert. Wilson's first government reluctantly decided it could not fulfil its long-held promise to raise
4582-553: The recession in activity from going too far in the form of a stimulus to consumer durable spending through an easing of credit, which in turn prevented a rise in unemployment. After a costly battle, market pressures forced the government to devalue the pound by 14% from $ 2.80 to $ 2.40 in November 1967. Wilson was much criticised for a broadcast soon after in which he assured listeners that the "pound in your pocket" had not lost its value. Economic performance did show some improvement after
4661-519: The recommendations of the Robbins Report , a bipartisan policy already in train when Labour took power. Wilson promoted the concept of an Open University , to give adults who had missed out on tertiary education a second chance through part-time study and distance learning . His political commitment included assigning implementation responsibility to Baroness Lee , the widow of Aneurin Bevan . By 1981, 45,000 students had received degrees through
4740-485: The restrained circumstances the actual average rate of growth between 1964 and 1970 was a far more modest 2.2%. The DEA itself was wound up in 1969. The government's other main initiative Mintech did have some success at switching research and development spending from military to civilian purposes, and of achieving increases in industrial productivity, although persuading industry to adopt new technology proved more difficult than had been hoped. Faith in indicative planning as
4819-421: The right wing of the party by his angry attempts to defeat Gaitskell in 1960 for the leadership, and George Brown in 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,
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#17330854744144898-451: 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 and the Leader of
4977-440: The school leaving age to 16, because of the investment required in infrastructure, such as tens of thousands of new classrooms and teachers. Overall, public expenditure on education rose as a proportion of GNP from 4.8% in 1964 to 5.9% in 1968, and the number of teachers in training increased by more than a third between 1964 and 1967. The percentage of students staying on at school after the age of sixteen increased similarly, and
5056-417: The selection timing and especially the publicity Wilson devoted to the bonfire represented the emerging skills of a brilliant young politician. While each major bonfire was justified in terms of technical economic advantages, it was selected and publicised widely to reach the largest possible audience so that everybody could understand that their bread and jam became free again. In mid-1949, with Chancellor of
5135-527: The social services, health, welfare and housing, unparalleled in our history. Several liberalising social reforms were passed through parliament during Wilson's first period in government. These dealt with the death penalty, homosexual acts, abortion, censorship and the voting age . There were new restrictions on immigration . Wilson personally, coming culturally from a provincial non-conformist background, showed no particular enthusiasm for much of this agenda. Higher education held special significance for
5214-474: The student population increased by over 10% each year. Pupil-teacher ratios were also steadily reduced. As a result of the first Wilson government's educational policies, opportunities for the working-class were improved; overall access to education in 1970 was broader than in 1964. As summarised by Brian Lapping, The years 1964–70 were largely taken up with creating extra places in universities, polytechnics, technical colleges, colleges of education: preparing for
5293-495: The youngest person to hold that office since Lord Rosebery 70 years earlier. During 1965, by-election losses reduced the government's majority to a single seat; but in March 1966 Wilson took the gamble of calling another general election. The gamble paid off, because this time Labour achieved a 96-seat majority over the Conservatives, who the previous year had made Edward Heath their leader. The 1964–1970 Labour government carried out
5372-409: Was a government which faced disappointment after disappointment and none greater than the economic restraints in our ability to carry through the social revolution to which we were committed at the speed we would have wished. Yet, despite those restraints and the need to transfer resources from domestic expenditure, private and public, to the needs of our export markets, we carried through an expansion in
5451-514: Was a works chemist who had been active in the Liberal Party , serving as Winston Churchill 's deputy election agent in a 1908 by-election, but later joined the Labour Party . His mother Ethel ( née Seddon) was a schoolteacher before her marriage; in 1901 her brother Harold Seddon settled in Western Australia and became a local political leader. When Wilson was eight, he visited London and
5530-451: Was added to the department but the Office of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills . In July 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to merge
5609-433: Was an aristocrat who had given up his peerage to sit in the 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". Labour won the 1964 general election with a narrow majority of four seats, and Wilson became prime minister , at 48
5688-434: Was designed to serve their needs, as such it was billed as the "people's bank". Girobank was a long-term success, surviving until 2003. Wilson's government presided over a rate of unemployment which was low by historic (and later) standards but did rise during his period in office. Between 1964 and 1966 the average rate of unemployment was 1.6%, while between 1966 and 1970 the average stood at 2.5%. He had entered power at
5767-442: Was established on 7 February 2023 after a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw the dissolution of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its responsibilities transferred to three new departments: Department for Business and Trade , the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology , and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero . The new Department for Business and Trade absorbed
5846-516: Was instrumental as prime minister in appointing Claus Moser as head of the Central Statistical Office , and was president of the Royal Statistical Society between 1972 and 1973. As the war drew to an end, he searched for a seat to contest at the impending general election. He was selected for the constituency of Ormskirk , then held by Stephen King-Hall . Wilson agreed to be adopted as the candidate immediately rather than delay until
5925-707: Was made redundant in December 1930, and it took him nearly two years to find work; he moved to Spital , on the Wirral Peninsula , to do so. Wilson continued his education in the Sixth Form at the Wirral Grammar School for Boys , where he became Head Boy . Wilson did well at school and, although he missed getting a scholarship, he obtained an exhibition ; this, when topped up by a county grant, enabled him to study at Jesus College, Oxford , from 1934. At Oxford, Wilson
6004-613: Was moderately active in politics as a member of the Liberal Party but was strongly influenced by G. D. H. Cole . His politics tutor, R. B. McCallum , considered Wilson to be the best student he ever had. He graduated in PPE ( Philosophy, Politics and Economics ) with "an outstanding first class Bachelor of Arts degree, with alphas on every paper" in the final examinations, and a series of major academic awards. Biographer Roy Jenkins wrote: Academically his results put him among prime ministers in
6083-521: Was regarded as self-important. He was not seriously considered for the job of Chancellor when Cripps stepped down in October 1950—it was given to Gaitskell—possibly in part because of his cautious role during devaluation. Wilson was becoming known in the Labour Party as a left-winger, and joined Aneurin Bevan and John Freeman in resigning from the government in April 1951 in protest at the introduction of National Health Service (NHS) medical charges to meet
6162-469: Was the key to economic and social advancement, as such he famously referred to the "white heat of technology", in reference to the modernisation of British industry. This was to be achieved through a new Ministry of Technology (shortened to "Mintech") which would coordinate research and development and support the swift adoption of new technology by industry, aided by government-funded infrastructure improvements. In practice, however, events derailed much of
6241-481: Was weakened after the Labour Party's 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 challenge to Gaitskell's leadership in November 1960 . Wilson would later be moved to
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