Post-Election Role Reversal

Though he had more or less pooh-poohed Edward Heath's prophecies of economic doom during the election campaign, Prime Minister Harold Wilson managed to sound almost like an echo of his defeated Conservative opponent last week. Wilson told Britons that they "cannot look forward over the next two years or more to any general increase in living standards." He had derided Heath's call for a government of national unity to fight recession and inflation, but now after his fourth national victory, Wilson repeated Heath's appeal for national solidarity in Britain's "gravest crisis since the war ... We believe that our problems can be solved only by a partnership between government and the whole of our national family, a partnership in which all of us should be partners and all must play their part."

Twinge of Irritation. Politics being politics, no one was going to accuse Wilson of outright plagiarism. But Heath, whose own days as Conservative leader are clearly numbered, must have felt a small twinge of irritation when the Prime Minister, who had campaigned as an unabashed socialist, announced that his new Labor government would act quickly to ease the serious cash shortages of British industry. Wilson even issued a mild warning to his union supporters that they would be allowed no more than their fair share of Britain's ever shrinking economic pie.

The trade unions, which only the week before were issuing dire warnings about the results of a Tory victory, also did something of a turnabout by offering soothing, tranquilizing words to a public that is still jittery about their growing power. Jack Jones, the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, and the most powerful man in

British labor, warned his colleagues not to press wage claims that could put firms out of business. "A wonderful wage agreement is of no value if the firm with whom we have negotiated doesn't employ people any more," he said. "The main objective in the fight against inflation should be to increase the value of the pay packet, not necessarily the amount of paper in it."

To complete the reversal of roles, there was the spectacle of open warfare in the Conservative Party, which prides itself on its public unity compared with the near brawling of the Labor Party. While Wilson, 58, has won more elections than any Prime Minister since William Gladstone, Heath, 58, has now lost more than any Tory party leader since Arthur Balfour. Almost all Conservatives agreed that after four years as Prime Minister and three defeats, Heath must go--but no one was sure when or how. "The sad truth is that Ted is now a spent force in political terms," said one young Tory leader. "I am afraid the party will go through agonies if he really intends to tough it out."

Pack of Contenders. The Conservatives used to replace an unpopular leader behind the privacy of mahogany doors with a gentlemanly turn of the knife and a three-star brandy to stanch the wound. But Heath was the first leader chosen by a vote under the 1965 reform rules, and no one at the time bothered to determine how he could be ousted. "I'm afraid my system wasn't all that well thought out," said Humphrey Berkeley, who drew up the rules. "It allows someone like Ted Heath, if he's stubborn enough, to be a life king."

According to his intimates, Heath was actually ready to step down in favor of his friend, Party Chairman William Whitelaw, 56, who won a measure of fame as a skillful negotiator between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Heath's delay in announcing his intention, however, allowed opposition to build and a whole pack of new contenders to emerge, including Sir Keith Joseph, shadow Home Secretary; Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the shadow cabinet's spokeswoman on housing and environment; and Edward du Cann, a former party chairman. With the prospect of an internal power struggle erupting, Heath changed his mind and decided to remain the Tory leader--at least for the moment.

Taking some of the zest out of the maneuvering is the generally admitted fact that the Conservatives have no one clearly suited to be Prime Minister. Their electoral base, moreover, has markedly diminished over the past decade. In Scotland, for example, they are not even the second party, taking third place behind the Laborites and the Scottish Nationalists (see following story).

Unless the new Tory leader--whoever he is--manages to revive the party, Harold Wilson, or his successor, may have a long lease on 10 Downing Street.

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