12 Comments

• Huw Dawson 28th Dec '08 - 9:03am

  Hmmmm…

  1966 is Wilson’s first government, and Labour were all about the “white heat” of technology. As it mentions that it wants the local party to look hip and modern etc, it could well be a Labour ad!

• tonyhill 28th Dec '08 - 11:18am

  Actually 1966 was Wilson’s second government – the ‘white heat’ was a speech in 1963 or 1964 and there wasn’t so much of that around by 1966. The tone of the advert is too New Labour for it to have been the Labour Party of 1966 which, with the exception of people like Frank Judd, Dick Taverne and Ben Whitaker, was still dominated by the deeply conservative trades union movement – less swinging 60s than depressing 30s. Mind you, the Conservative Party was pretty stuck in the past too (statement of the obvious really). My guess would be Reginald Maudling.

• Huw Dawson 28th Dec '08 - 11:43am

  Bah, I blame my youth combined with the fact that we’re studying Wilson in the new year…

  Ah, of course – Wilson only got in on a majority of 4, so he would have had to go to the country at a very early point to secure a larger majority. Didn’t he call the election in ’66 though? That makes us both right.

  I’d still put money on it being a Labour advert, anyway. 🙂

• Mark Pack 28th Dec '08 - 11:47am

  My own guess is that it is a Liberal Party advert, as that’s the most likely route for me to have ended up with the document. But that’s just guesswork as I can’t remember when/how I got hold of the piece of paper.

• tonyhill 28th Dec '08 - 12:54pm

  Yes, Wilson secured a majority of 97 at the 1966 general election. If it was a Liberal Party advert it would have to be Jeremy Thorpe or Peter Bessell – the bit about ‘lines of communication and control and security risks’ is very peculiar – almost smacks of George Wigg, but I can’t see him being concerned about the image of his constituency. Given what we subsequently learned about Thorpe and Bessell either of them were odd enough to have written that line.

• Richard Huzzey 28th Dec '08 - 1:15pm

  Isn’t the “association” part a clue? Tory local parties certainly call themselves such to this day; did Labour and Liberal local parties in the mid-60s?

• James Graham 28th Dec '08 - 1:25pm

  Liberal LPs were called Associations too, but it would certainly rule out Labour as the jargon of “CLP” is embedded in their constitution.

  But I would like to hear more about how you came across this Mark. What is the background?

• Duncan Borrowman 28th Dec '08 - 2:15pm

  Yes, when I read it, the word Association was a give away that it is Tory or Liberal. I was a member of Orpington Liberal Association until merger. My guess is it is Liberal.

• Darrell 28th Dec '08 - 2:48pm

  Well, it’s not going to be Conservative is it? Their female members would be too scared of a ‘good looking’ women ‘stealing their husbands’ 🙂

• Mark Pack 28th Dec '08 - 4:08pm

  James: I found it in my filing system.

• Oranjepan 28th Dec '08 - 7:17pm

  Definitely Liberal.

  Slightly offensive to modern eyes, but within the context of 40 years of history the modesty, professionalism and lack of hectoring in the tone of it resonates with the best in our tradition.

  Sounds like something my dad would have asked his secretary to type (and he probably would’ve also tolerated the spelling mistake too)!

• Jennie 29th Dec '08 - 1:26pm

  You would have thoughts that Liberals would be able to use “sheer” rather than “shear”. I don’t think the hypothetical she would want to use her determination to shave sheep…