Why did the 1964 Labour government get off to such a bad start?

An incoming Labour government gets off to a difficult start, taking tough and unpopular decisions which they say are necessary because of the inheritance left by the Conservatives. It's not Keir Starmer in 2024, but Harold Wilson six decades ago. In this episode, we consider Wilson's tricky start as prime minister, how a controversial and sensational by-election crystallised the issues facing Britain and its government in the mid-1960s, and the ways Wilson tried to recover ahead of the 1966 election.In this episode we discuss the following programmes, articles and books:'Lucan' on BBC iPlayer. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0024qb9/lucan‘'Make The Equal Rights Amendment Part Of The Constitution' by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/opinion/trump-biden-legacy.html?searchResultPosition=4'John Stonehouse: My Father' by Julia Stonehouse. Available at: https://amzn.to/41Rv9Mv'Making the Weather' by Vernon Bogdanor. Available at: https://amzn.to/3ZVQrWH***Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.