Skip to main content
Advertise Buy the paper Contact us Shop Subscribe Support us

Error message

An error occurred while searching, try again later.
Labour victories in 1964 and 1974: did things get better?
KEITH FLETT reflects on the 1964 and 1974 election victories, arguing that despite years in power, Labour failed to fundamentally reshape society in the way Thatcher later would — a pattern Blair and now Starmer would follow

IT is the anniversary of the Labour election win on October 15 1964, and also the anniversary of the victory on October 10 1974. In both cases, Harold Wilson became Labour prime minister.

The election victories and the context in which they took place are fast moving from living memory into labour history.

In both cases, the Labour majority was slim — an overall majority in single figures in both 1964 and in October 1974. Indeed, so small was the margin in 1974 that Labour spent some of the time up to the 1979 election in a pact with the Liberal Party (now the Lib Dems), which itself may seem rather odd to those more familiar with the events from 2010-15.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 4 March 2025
4 March 2025
The formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 marked the beginning of interconnected and contested strategies — parliamentary and industrial — seeking ways to advance working-class interests, writes KEITH FLETT
Features / 16 February 2025
16 February 2025
KEITH FLETT looks back 50 years to when the Iron Lady was elected Tory leader…
Features / 4 February 2025
4 February 2025
The legacy of an 1820 conspiracy in revenge for Peterloo resonates down the ages, argues KEITH FLETT
Features / 23 January 2025
23 January 2025
Britain’s first woman Chancellor delivers the same old fudge, as Labour’s commitment to economic orthodoxy, seen throughout its history, always betrays working people, writes KEITH FLETT