History UsefulNotes / JamesCallaghan

Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim and Big Jim. He is the only parliamentarian in Britain's history to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State[[note]](Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary)[[/note]], and also ended his time in the House of Commons as Father of the House, its longest-serving member.


In his youth, he had served in the Royal Navy, fighting in the Pacific Front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While injured and laid up in a hospital ship, he wrote a guide to the naval strengths of the Allies and Japanese. He began his political career as a government backbencher, first elected in Labour's 1945 landslide, and made friends quickly enough that he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet each year the party spent in opposition from 1952 to 1963. His first ministerial post, from 1964, was as Chancellor of the Exchequer, during a turbulent period in the British economy in which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. In 1967 the government was forced to devalue the pound, despite him saying that it would not. As such, he offered to resign, but was instead made to swap jobs with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins.

The Labour Party lost the 1970 election, to the surprise of most everyone but the Conservative Party's pollsters, but he became Foreign Secretary when they returned to government in March 1974. In this capacity he renegotiated the terms of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community (the "Common Market") and supported a "Yes" vote in the 1975 referendum for the UK to remain in the EEC.

Then, after UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson resigned in 1976, he became the new leader of the Labour Party and thus Prime Minister.

Labour was already governing with minority standing and it lost seats, one by-election at a time, forcing Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and even smaller parties to hold the House of Commons' confidence. Yet by autumn 1978, opinion polls were showing Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced this by singing an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until he stood down in 1987, then was elevated to the House of Lords. His constituency had been called Cardiff South East for all but his first (when it was Cardiff South) and last terms (Cardiff South and Penarth).

He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-lived Prime Minister ever.

-->-- 1979 interview

-->-- How ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]]'' ran it.

Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim and Big Jim. He is the only parliamentarian in Britain's history to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

He began his political career as a government backbencher, first elected in Labour's 1945 landslide, and made friends quickly enough that he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet each year the party spent in opposition from 1952 to 1963. His first ministerial post, from 1964, was as Chancellor of the Exchequer, during a turbulent period in the British economy in which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. In 1967 the government was forced to devalue the pound, despite him saying that it would not. As such, he offered to resign, but was instead made to swap jobs with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until he stood down in 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. His constituency had been called Cardiff South East for all but his first (when it was Cardiff South) and last terms (Cardiff South and Penarth). He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-lived Prime Minister ever.

In his youth, he had served in the Royal Navy, fighting in the Pacific Front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While injured and laid up in a hospital ship, he wrote a guide to the naval strengths of the Allies and Japanese. He ultimately became Prime Minister largely not because he was liked but because he was the ''least hated'' MP in the Labour Party thanks to the conflict between its left and right wings at the time. However, the way he fought his way back up after his career seemed to be in ruins after the pound devaluation to achieve the premiership a decade later is certainly worthy of respect. He also had one of the closest friendly relationships with an American President (UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter) of any Prime Minister, much more so than the often-cited relationship between their respective successors, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan.

-->-- How ''The Sun'' ran it.

Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim and Big Jim. He is the only parliamentarian in Britain's history to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

As Home Secretary he sent the Army to support the police in Northern Ireland, after a request from the government of Northern Ireland.

In 1969, he led a cabinet revolt against a proposed reform of trade union law, forcing the government to scrap it. Had this reform been put into place, the strikes which took down his government would have been illegal.

The Labour Party lost the 1970 election, but he became Foreign Secretary when they returned to government in March 1974. In this capacity he renegotiated the terms of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community (the "Common Market") and supported a "Yes" vote in the 1975 referendum for the UK to remain in the EEC.

Labour was already governing with minority standing and it lost seats, by-election by by-election, causing Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and even smaller parties to hold the House of Commons' confidence. Yet by autumn 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced this by singing an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Labour's policy since Wilson returned to office in 1974 had been to deal with economic difficulties by limiting pay rises in the public sector, which seemed to work: inflation had been falling and economic growth had resumed in 1978, accounting for Labour's popularity, and Callaghan gambled that by delaying the election, another year of the policy would be enough for Labour to gain a majority. But Callaghan's gamble backfired on him spectacularly: the unions rejected the extension of the income policy and went on strike, causing the infamous 1978–79 "Winter of Discontent."

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until he stood down in 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-lived Prime Minister ever.

In his youth, he had served in the Royal Navy, fighting in the Pacific Front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While injured and laid up in a hospital ship, he wrote a guide to the naval strengths of the Allies and Japanese. He ultimately became Prime Minister largely not because he was liked but because he was the ''least hated'' MP in the Labour Party thanks to the conflict between its left and right wings at the time. However, the way he fought his way back up after his career seemed to be in ruins after the pound devaluation to achieve the premiership a decade later is certainly worthy of respect. He also had one of the closest friendly relationships with an American President (UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter) of any Prime Minister, much more so than the often-cited relationship between their successors, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan.

First he was Chancellor of the Exchequer during a turbulent period in the British economy in which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. In 1967 the government was forced to devalue the pound, despite him saying that it would not. As such, he offered to resign, but was instead made to swap jobs with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins.

Labour was already governing with minority standing and it lost seats, by-election by by-election, causing Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and even smaller parties to get the support he needed to keep control. Yet by autumn 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced this by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until he stood down in 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, some six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-lived Prime Minister ever.

Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim or Big Jim. He is the only man to have ever served in all of the Four Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

First he was Chancellor of the Exchequer during a turbulent period in the British economy in which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. In 1967 the government was forced to devalue the pound, despite him saying that it would not. As such he offered to resign, but was instead made to swap jobs with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins.

The Labour Party lost the 1970 election, but he became Foreign Secretary when they returned to government in March 1974. In this capacity he renegotiated the terms of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community (the "Common Market") and supported a 'Yes' vote in the 1975 referendum for the UK to remain in the EEC.

It was already a minority government and lost seats, by-election by by-election, causing Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and even smaller parties to get the support he needed to keep control. Yet by autumn 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced this by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, some six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-lived Prime Minister ever.

In his youth, he had been in the Royal Navy, fighting in the Pacific front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While injured and laid up in a hospital ship, he wrote a guide to the naval strengths of the Allies and Japanese. He ultimately became Prime Minister largely not because he was liked but because he was the least hated prominent figure in the Labour Party thanks to the conflict between its left and right wings at the time. However, the way he fought his way back up after his career seemed to be in ruins after the pound devaluation to achieve the premiership a decade later is certainly worthy of respect. He also had one of the closest friendly relationships with an American President (UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter) of any Prime Minister, much more so than the often-cited relationship between their successors, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan.

As Home Secretary he sent the Army to support the police in Northern Ireland, after a request from the Northern Ireland Government.

The Labour Party lost the 1970 election but he became Foreign Secretary when they won again in 1974. In this job he renegotiated the terms of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community (the "Common Market"), and supporting a 'Yes' vote in the 1975 referendum for the UK to remain in the EEC.

Then UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson resigned in 1976 he was made the new leader of the Labour party and thus Prime Minister.

It was already a minority government and lost seats, by-election by by-election, causing Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and all kinds of little parties to get the support he needed to keep in control. Yet by the autumn of 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced that fact by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Labour's policy since Wilson returned to office in 1974 had been to deal with economic difficulties by limiting pay rises in the public sector, which seemed to work: inflation had been falling and economic growth had resumed in 1978, accounting for Labour's popularity, and Callaghan gambled that by delaying the election, another year of the policy would be enough to gain a Labour majority. But Callaghan's gamble blew up in his face spectacularly: the unions rejected the extension of the income policy and went on strike, causing the infamous "Winter of Discontent" in 1978/79.

When a referendum on Scottish devolution failed a motion of no confidence was passed (by one vote), an election was called and UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher started her 11 year reign.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. He died in 2005, the day before his 93rd birthday, some six weeks after overtaking UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's record to become the UK's longest-living Prime Minister ever.

In his youth, he had been in the Royal Navy, fighting in the Pacific front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While injured and laid up in a hospital ship, he wrote a guide to the naval strengths of the Allies and Japanese. He ultimately became Prime Minister largely not because he was liked but because he was the least hated prominent figure thanks to the left vs. right conflict in the party at the time. However, the way he fought his way back up after his career seemed to be in ruins after the pound devaluation to achieve the premiership a decade later is certainly worthy of respect. He also had one of the closest friendly relationships with an American President (UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter) of any Prime Minister, much more so than the often-cited UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher-UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan relationship.

Leonard James Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Jim Callaghan, Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim or Big Jim. He is the only man to have ever served in all of the Four Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

It was already a minority government and lost seats by-election by by-election causing James Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and all kinds of little parties to get the support he needed to keep in control. Yet by the autumn of 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election that could have given his party a majority, and announced that fact by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition.

Callaghan stayed in the Commons until 1987, then was elevated to the Lords. He died in 2005.

Leonard James Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Jim Callaghan, Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim or Big Jim. He is the only man to have ever served in all of the Four Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

->'''Reporter''': What is your general approach, in view of the mounting chaos in the country at the moment?
->'''Callaghan''': Well, that's a judgment that you are making. I promise you that if you look at it from outside, and perhaps you're taking rather a parochial view at the moment, I don't think that other people in the world would share the view that there is mounting chaos.

Leonard James Callaghan, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (1912-2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Jim Callaghan, Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim or Big Jim. He is the only man to have ever served in all of the Four Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

Leonard James Callaghan, [[KnightFever Baron Callaghan of Cardiff KG PC]] (1912-2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. He had many nicknames including Jim Callaghan, Sunny Jim, Gentleman Jim or Big Jim. He is the only man to have ever served in all of the Four Great Offices of State and been Father of the House.

In 1969, he led a cabinet revolt against a proposed reform of trade union law, forcing the government to scrap it. [[{{Irony}} Had this reform been put into place, the strikes which took down his government would have been illegal]].

It was already a minority government and lost seats by-election by by-election causing James Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and all kinds of little parties to get the support he needed to keep in control. Yet by the autumn of 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a {{Facepalm}}-inducingly bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election [[WhatCouldHaveBeen that could have given his party a majority]], and announced that fact by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition. (UsefulNotes/GordonBrown later followed his example on failing to call an election, though thankfully without any singing.)

Labour's policy since Wilson returned to office in 1974 had been to deal with economic difficulties by limiting pay rises in the public sector, which seemed to work: inflation had been falling and economic growth had resumed in 1978, accounting for Labour's popularity, and Callaghan gambled that by delaying the election, another year of the policy would be enough to gain a Labour majority. But Callaghan's gamble [[HoistByHisOwnPetard blew up in his face spectacularly]]: the unions rejected the extension of the income policy and went on strike, causing the infamous "Winter of Discontent" in 1978/79.

It was already a minority government and lost seats by-election by by-election causing James Callaghan to deal with the Liberals and all kinds of little parties to get the support he needed to keep in control. Yet by the autumn of 1978, opinion polls showed Labour in the lead. In what is now considered a {{Facepalm}}-inducingly bad idea, Callaghan refused to call an election [[WhatCouldHaveBeen that could have given his party a majority]], and announced that fact by singing an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_at_the_Church old music hall song]] to ridicule the opposition. (GordonBrown later followed his example on failing to call an election, though thankfully without any singing.)

->'''Reporter''': What is your general approach, in view of the mounting chaos in the country at the moment?'''