Past Prime Ministers
Nickname“Big Jim” and “Sunny Jim”
Born 27 March 1912 , Copnor area of Portsmouth, Hampshire
Died 26 March 2005, Ringmer, East Sussex
Dates in office 5th April 1976 - 4th May 1979
Political party Labour
Major acts
Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 - regulated the keeping of certain kinds of dangerous wild animals.
Race Relations Act 1976 - serious amendments to the 1968 act to make fresh provision with respect to discrimination on racial grounds and relations between people of different racial groups
Interesting facts
Was the only Prime Minister to come to the premiership after holding the other three great offices of state - chancellor of the exchequer, home secretary and foreign secretary.
James Callaghan
1976 - 1979
“A lie can be half-way around the world before truth has got its boots on.”
James Callaghan (sometimes affectionately referred to as ‘Big Jim’ or ‘Sunny Jim’) was the only British Prime Minister of the 20th century to have held all four major offices of state: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964-67), Home Secretary (1967-70), Foreign Secretary (1974-76) and Prime Minister (1976-79).
Callaghan grew up in poverty during the Depression. Unable to afford the tuition fees for University, he joined the Inland Revenue in the 1930s, helping to establish the Association of Officers of Taxes trade union. After three years in the British Navy during World War Two, he was elected Member of Parliament for Cardiff South in 1945.
As Chancellor, Callaghan oversaw the controversial devaluation of the British pound in 1967, which was followed by his swift resignation. His next ministerial position as Home Secretary saw the escalation of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that peaked under the succeeding Conservative administration of Ted Heath. Callaghan’s short period as Foreign Secretary, however, was interrupted by the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson in 1976. Callaghan, who was popular across all parts of the Labour Party, won the leadership election and became Prime Minister.
However, Callaghan’s government lost its majority of seats in Parliament on his first day in office, and he was forced to rely upon the support of the Liberal Party between 1977-78, and then the Scottish National Party for the remainder of the government. It is for this reason that the 1979 referendum on the Devolution of powers to Scotland was produced, which was narrowly defeated by the Scottish voters. Callaghan’s years as Prime Minister also saw the introduction of the Police Act of 1976, which formalised Police complaints procedures; the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act of 1977, which established the responsibility of local authorities to provide housing to homeless people; and the Education Act of 1976, which limited the number of independent and grant-maintained schools in any one area.
However, these years saw Britain’s economy performing poorly. By 1976, inflation had hit almost 17% with 1.5 million (or around 5% of workers) unemployed. Callaghan’s controversial decision to ask the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan in 1976 generated significant tensions within the Cabinet; his successful leadership during the Cabinet’s deliberation of this decision has earned him wide praise amongst subsequent observers.
Despite this success, further attempts by the government to tackle inflation through wage restrictions for public sector workers caused a wave of strikes across the winter of 1978-79, which has become known as the ‘Winter of Discontent’. Having been severely undermined by these events, a motion of No Confidence against the Callaghan government was called by Opposition MPs in Parliament in March 1979. This motion was passed by 311 votes against the 310 MPs that opposed it. The subsequent general election in May 1979 was won by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative party.
Ben Draper, Mile End Group