Callaghan, Leonard James, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff

Callaghan, Leonard James, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff (b. 27 Mar. 1912, d. 26 Mar. 2005). British Prime Minister 1976–9 Born in Portsmouth, he grew up there, and worked as a clerk in the Inland Revenue before joining the Royal Navy during World War II. He was elected as Labour Party MP for Cardiff South in 1945, and became Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport in 1947. In opposition, he gained experience of a variety of issues, first shadowing foreign affairs, then becoming Labour's Treasury spokesperson. He lost the 1963 leadership election to Wilson, who made him Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964–7) in his government. Faced with strong pressure on the pound, he implemented policies such as the creation of a prices and incomes board, cuts in public spending, and, finally in 1967, the devaluation of the pound. In the wake of this humiliating measure, he became Foreign Secretary (1967–70), where he had to deal with the emerging IRA violence in Northern Ireland, and calls for immigration restrictions (immigration legislation (UK)).

After Labour's return to power in 1974 Callaghan became Foreign Secretary, and in 1976 succeeded Wilson as Prime Minister. He was handicapped by the lack of an overall majority, economic recession caused by the 1973 oil-price shock, and his unwillingness (and inability) to overcome trade-union hostility to his economic austerity measures. The disastrous outcomes of the referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution respectively triggered a successful vote of no confidence in Parliament in March 1979, which was followed by a general election. However, it was the large-scale trade-union strikes of 1978–9, popularly remembered as the ‘Winter of Discontent’, that destroyed the party's popular image and foiled its political prospects for over a decade. His party was routed at the 1979 general elections, and he resigned as party leader in 1980.