(1916–95), British prime minister (1964–70, 1974–76), born on March 11, 1916, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, and educated at Jesus College, University of Oxford. Wilson became a lecturer in economics at Oxford in 1937 at the age of 21. During World War II, he served in several government departments. He was elected to Parliament in 1945 as Labour party member for Ormskirk, Lancashire. In 1947 he became a member of the Privy Council; he was president of the board of trade from 1947 until 1951.

In 1963 Wilson was elected leader of the Labour party. In 1964, when his party gained a slim majority in Parliament, he became prime minister, remaining in office until the Conservatives won the general election in 1970. As prime minister, Wilson attempted, with mixed results, to bolster Great Britain’s weak economy by reducing overseas expenditures and by devaluing the pound sterling in 1967. He also tried to mediate an end to the war in Vietnam and to moderate the policies of the white-minority regime in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which unilaterally declared itself independent in 1965. In each case, however, he was unsuccessful.

Wilson again became prime minister in early 1974. Once more he had to deal with a deteriorating economy, notably an annual inflation rate that rose above 25 percent, and with unrest in Northern Ireland. In April 1976 he unexpectedly retired as prime minister but retained his seat in Parliament. He was succeeded as prime minister by fellow Labourite James Callaghan. In mid-1976 Wilson was knighted, and in 1983 he was made a life peer. His books include Purpose in Power (1966), A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers (1977), and The Chariot of Israel (1981).