Wilson Bounces Back

During the cheerless eight months since he had to devalue the pound, words of praise for Harold Wilson have been as scarce as sunshine at his habitual Scilly Isles vacation spot. Merchant Banker Jocelyn Hambro recently called him the worst Prime Minister since Lord North, who presided over the loss of the American colonies. The public, which voted Tory in by-elections all winter and spring, earlier this month gave Wilson the lowest rating that Gallup pollsters have recorded for any Prime Minister since they began sampling in Neville Chamberlain's day.

Differences have sharpened within his own Labor Party this year; three Cabinet Ministers have resigned over policy disputes and Wilson's high-handed ways. Though no challenger loomed, many in Britain thought that Wilson would soon have to yield power to a leader who could command more respect. But this week, as Parliament recesses, Harold Wilson has snapped back sufficiently to ensure that he will be at the helm when the Labor Party holds its national conference in September.

Decisive Dealings. For long weeks, he had retreated into his shell, seeing practically no one but a few close friends and hardly ever appearing on the telly or the front pages. Now Wilson has suddenly re-emerged with force. First, he dealt decisively with his disintegrating Cabinet, warning right-wing dissidents two weeks ago to shape up by quoting Harry Truman's famous dictum, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Then he announced at a party rally that Britain, which has been having more than its share of economic difficulties, was now "on the way to an economic miracle." Many friends and foes alike thought that the statement was an absurd exaggeration and would come back to haunt him.

But Wilson had some information that made that statement sound merely overoptimistic rather than like sheer nonsense. Britain's trade deficit dropped 42% in June, the best performance in any month since devaluation, and Europe's central bankers showed their confidence in the pound by giving Britain $2 billion in new stand-by credits to defend it. A Daily Mail poll showed that the massive Tory lead of 23.5% in April had been cut to 13.5% this month. Then, last week, Labor scored its second parliamentary by-election victory in five weeks. The win at Caerphilly, Wales, was narrow for a traditionally safe Labor seat, but it at least maintained Wilson's 72-seat edge over the Tories.

Tory Disarray. What must please Harold Wilson most, though, is the spectacle of the Tory Party in disarray at a time when it should be united against him. While he may be the least popular Prime Minister in three decades, Wilson has the pleasure of knowing that Tory Leader Ted Heath is the least-regarded opposition leader of the era. Heath is having as much difficulty controlling the Tories as Wilson is having with Labor. Last spring, when right-wing M.P. Enoch Powell unleashed a virulent anti-immigration speech in Birmingham. Heath fired him from the shadow Cabinet. Two weeks ago, ignoring party policy, 45 backbenchers hooted down their own leaders and voted against a race-relations bill that broadly outlaws discrimination.

Even when Heath attacked Wilson, he ran into trouble. Addressing a Conservative rally at Wembley last week, he called Wilson's record "the Rake's Progress" and his economic forecast "hooey" and "complacent nonsense." The British are not used to such harsh, direct attacks on their politicians, and Heath's blast prompted that unorthodox but stoutly Tory peer Lord Boothby to come to Wilson's defense. Boothby rose in the House of Lords and, in ironic tones, took note of Wilson's ability to recover. "The Prime Minister may not walk on the water today," he said, "but I believe he may well be walking on the water the day after tomorrow." (Laughter in the House.)

Wilson's Ministers already notice a new self-confidence in their man. If the economic figures keep on improving at their present rate, there seems to be no commanding reason why Wilson should not survive right through until March 1971--the latest he can delay the next general elections.

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