11 March: Harold Wilson

Born on this date in 1916 was Lord Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of the UK. 10 things you didn't know about him:

1. He was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. His father was a chemist with ICI and his mother was a teacher. Harold was his middle name - his first name was actually James.
2. He became interested in politics at a young age. The fact that his father was politically active may have influenced him - he'd been deputy election agent to Winston Churchill. At eight, he had his picture taken on the doorstep of Ten Downing Street. When he was 10, he visited an uncle in Australia who was in local politics and observing his life sealed the deal. He told his mother then that he was going to be Prime Minister.
3. He did well at school and was head boy. He went on to study Modern History at Oxford and graduated with first class honours.
4. Before becoming an MP, he worked as a research assistant and statistician. When he volunteered for military service during the second world war, he was deemed to be a specialist and was placed in a research post instead. He achieved a lot in this field - he became Director of Economics and Statistics at the Ministry of Fuel and Power and received an OBE for his work there.
5. He became an MP in 1945, winning the seat for Ormskirk by a landslide. Clement Attlee appointed him at once as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works. Two years later, at 31, he became the youngest member of a British Cabinet when he was appointed President of the Board of Trade. He missed out on being Chancellor of the Exchequer, though, because his colleagues didn't trust him after he changed his mind several times over whether or not to devalue the pound when serving as a financial advisor to Attlee.
6. He became the opposition leader and in 1964, Prime Minister - the youngest person, at 48, to hold the post since Lord Roseberry at the end of the 19th century.
7. Around that time there were rumours that Wilson was a KGB agent, possibly circulated as part of a conspiracy to undermine him. At one point 10 Downing Street was bugged by MI5, which resulted in Wilson issuing instructions that no agency would ever be allowed to bug MP's phones again. No recorded conversations were kept by MI5 so it's not known whether they even activated the devices. No evidence was found that the rumours were true.
8. The achievements of his government included decriminalising homosexuality, abolishing capital punishment, establishing the Open University and bringing the Equal Pay Act into force.
9. He resigned as PM at the age of 60 in 1976. He was said to have lost all enthusiasm for the role by then and may have been aware that he was suffering from early onset Alzheimer's disease. In 1983 he became Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, a life peer.
10. He was often seen smoking a pipe in public and was voted Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1965. He didn't smoke much in private though. Smoking a pipe was a way to promote his image as a fatherly man of the people, but at the same time it was an accessory to help buy time. If he was asked a difficult question in an interview he'd take the pipe out of his pocket and light it, giving him time to think of an answer.

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.