James Callaghan
James Callaghan or Lord Callaghan of Cardiff (born 27 March 1912) was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979.
| Period in Office: | 5 April, 1976 - May 4, 1979 |
| PM Predecessor: | Harold Wilson |
| PM Successor: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Date of Birth: | 27 March, 1912 |
| Place of Birth: | Portsmouth, Hampshire |
| Political Party: | Labour |
Callaghan was an old-style socialist, lacking any higher education, and served as MP for Cardiff North. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of the devaluation of the pound in 1967 and resigned this office in the aftermath. Having been appointed Home Secretary, his background in the trade union movement meant that he served as a focus for opposition to the employment laws proposed by his cabinet colleague Barbara Castle in 1969. In this struggle (called The Battle of Downing Street) he ultimately prevailed, and the proposals (set out in the White paper In Place of Strife) were dropped.
Callaghan was the first prime minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions - Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs- prior to becoming prime minister. He was never expected to reach the latter position, having taken a back seat to the younger and more charismatic Harold Wilson for many years. However, when Wilson unexpectedly announced his retirement in 1976, Callaghan was the most experienced candidate to replace him. His time as prime minister was one of more open government, but the public was dissatisfied with his relaxed response to high inflation and the increasing industrial unrest (culminating in the Winter of Discontent) and replaced Labour with a Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher.
Returning to the United Kingdom from an economic summit held in Guadeloupe in early 1979, Callaghan was asked:
- How do you respond to the mounting chaos that greets your return, Prime Minister?.
- I see no sign of mounting chaos
- Crisis? What Crisis?.
Callaghan's resignation as party leader ignited a power struggle between the left and right wings of the party which culminated in the defection of the Gang of Four to found the SDP. Many commentators hold the view that this struggle was inevitable and even blame Callaghan for not resigning earlier. Callaghan's admirers maintain that had he remained as party leader his position would have been respected by both sides and that by avoiding a split in the non conservative vote he could have restored the Labour Party to Government by the mid-1980s. This disagreement is illuminated by the fact the Callaghan's successor, Michael Foot, a compromise candidate from the left of the party, was unable to prevent Tony Benn from challenging his right wing deputy Denis Healey.
| Preceded by: Harold Wilson | Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom | Followed by: Margaret Thatcher |
