Tomorrow marks the 45th anniversary of Harold Wilson’s resignation as Prime Minister. While most people will have forgotten the event, his departure caused a political sensation at the time – wholly unexpected and assumed to have reshaped the national landscape. He had been Labour leader for 13 years and in Downing Street for nearly eight – meaning the words “Prime Minister” instantly evoked his face and his flat Yorkshire vowels.
Mr Wilson’s resignation was unusual because, for most of his party and the general public, the announcement came “from out of the blue”, and was not, seemingly, prompted by any obvious health issues.
The unexpected nature of his departure gave rise to various conspiracy theories, and suspicion in some quarters that his resignation was forced, for some secret reason.
To this day there’s a lack of consensus on the “real” explanation for why he left.
A researcher in the field of neurology published work suggesting that Mr Wilson, who had been living with cancer for years before his death in 1995, was actually struggling with Alzheimer’s disease while still in office.
Wilder theories involve his supposed paranoia over an alleged conspiracy involving the KGB and M15, proposing that he left to avoid a secret plan to unseat him and destabilise England’s government.
There seem to be rumours surrounding the date he chose to resign, as well.
According to a 1982 report by the Daily Mirror, the former Prime Minister timed his resignation announcement to help…
