Harold Wilson at No 10 in 1964, during his first stint as Prime Minister. © George Freston/Stringer/Getty
On 14th November 1935, Vera Brittain in Sunderland writes in her diary: “Afternoon, spent... canvassing in houses with pitch-dark stairs worn and broken in many places, tin baths and buckets on landing... Habitations more fit for monkeys than human beings...
“All of us very depressed as return of polling cards didn’t indicate a very favourable prospect for us and first results on wireless showed that, though a few old Labour strongholds were won back, the great towns of the North, such as Newcastle, were still voting National Government with large majorities.”
Audrey Deacon, an officer in the Wrens in Plymouth, writes in her diary on 26th July 1945: “Labour has a majority of 152 (I think). Personally I voted Conservative—more because I thought [Winston] Churchill and [Anthony] Eden were two good men to carry on in their present jobs than for any other reason—but I’m not really surprised that Labour has won. After all, the Conservatives had been in since 1935 and before the war, at least, weren’t particularly bright. But nobody was then, really.”
On the same day, Evelyn Waugh writes in his diary: “I went to White’s at 11. Results were already coming in on the tape, and in an hour and a half it was plainly an overwhelming defeat. Practically all my friends are out… 10,000 votes against Winston in his own constituency for an obvious lunatic [Alexander Hancock, an independent candidate, although Churchill retained the seat].”
On 8th October 1959, Hugh Dalton, the former Labour Chancellor, writes in his diary: “I felt reasonably hopeful, as Ruth and I settled down in the flat. From the start, the results were wrong. Billericay, containing the new town of Basildon… Surely a Labour gain. But no, held by the Tories with a 4,000 majority. True we had held the two Salford seats but then came a stream of disappointments. Battersea South and Watford, both held by Tories, and a Tory gain from Labour at Acton. And so on and on.
“Hugh [Gaitskell, Labour leader] conceded the election about 1am.”
At the same time, Lord Louis Mountbatten is at dinner at the White House in Washington. He records in his diary: “Election Day in the UK and every half hour President [Eisenhower] was on the telephone getting the latest news. He could not conceal his pleasure when Gaitskell conceded the election. What pleased him most was being able to work again with his old friend Harold Macmillan, and that he thought that his re-election would be a notable contribution to summit negotiations and world peace.”
On 18th June 1970, Michael Palin records in his diary: “Ideal polling weather, dry with warm sunshine. Every public opinion poll in the last two months had put Labour clearly ahead—the only possible shadow on the horizon was a one and a half per cent swing to the Tories... after the publication of the worst trade figures for over a year and England’s exit from the World Cup last Sunday. Nevertheless everything looked rosy for Labour…
“Edward Heath, perhaps more consistently written-off than any opposition leader since the war, consistently behind Wilson in popularity, is the new Prime Minister.
“The Labour government was courageous and human in abolishing hanging, legalising abortion, reforming the laws against homosexuals... and banning the sale of arms to South Africa. I am very sad they are out of power, especially as I fear that it is on this record of progressive reform that they have been ousted.”
That day, Gyles Brandreth, then President of the Oxford Union, writes in his diary after appearing on the BBC results programme: “The whole BBC circus was extraordinary—the chaotic comings and goings and the sense of bewilderment/hysteria that the result was not what they had expected or planned for. They were all set for a Labour victory and, suddenly, had to change tack. Interesting to note how well the politicians got on with each other, how wary they were of the BBC people and how pleased with himself Robin Day [the BBC’s chief political correspondent] is.”
Bernard Donoughue, Harold Wilson’s special advisor, writes in his diary on 28th February 1974, as Labour takes power as a minority government: “We walked together to the polling booth in Great Smith Street. Big crowd of journalists etc. A big lorry pulled out and the lorry driver leaned out and shouted, ‘Good luck, Harold, my old son.’ He was about 25.
“HW sets off to his Huyton constituency at 8.30pm... For nearly two hours we tour the constituency in rain and sleet... “The press follow at a distance but show little interest... I sensed that everybody saw him as a loser, finished... At times we just walked in the rain, just the two of us...
“Off to Huyton Labour Club, to tumultuous reception. Everybody singing and chanting. Packed. Woman next to me had tears streaming down her face and was shouting ‘I love him, I love him.’”
