The Red Weed
The Red Weed
For John Gouriet the Reds were everywhere. Having been elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire at the 1970 general election, Gouriet quickly cemented himself as a figure on the libertarian hard-right of the Tory Party. He backed Enoch Powell for the leadership after Macleod’s death and was seen to be an ally of fellow ‘New Right’ MP (and co-founder and editor of the Guinness Book of Records) Ross McWhirter. Together they had formed the ‘National Association for Freedom’ a self-described centre-right libertarian pressure group noted for its support for economic liberalism and opposition to trade unionism. The NAF was seen by some within the parliamentary Conservative Party as being the embodiment of ‘hard-right’ entryism within the party. Notable Lollard (the collective name for liberals within the Conservative Party) William van Straubenzee nearly came to blows with Gouriet over the NAF’s ‘entryism’ of the party. Gouriet had been converted to the political cause after his time within the armed forces, where he was taught that the Soviet Union viewed the United Kingdom as an “offshore aircraft carrier, which could be used to spread their tentacles across the Atlantic and subvert the United States which they looked upon as ripe for plunder.” He was also informed that the Soviets used as well as tanks and missiles; political subversion to undermine other nations and their governments. In Gouriet’s view, this ‘secret weapon’ of the Soviets was both the trade union movement as well as infiltration of the governing Labour Party. In some sections of the ultra-right within the military, security services, media, and politics, there was a view that the Soviets had murdered the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell in an attempt to replace him with a Soviet plant; this was assumed to have failed due to the lack of warmth between the Callaghan government and Moscow. Some, however, felt that the increasing tide of socialism through each budget introduced by the Chancellor, coupled with the cooling of relations with the United States, was a sign that the Labour government had at the very least communist sympathisers within it. Much of the fears of a communist infiltration within the British government were from the paranoid mind of the Director of Central Intelligence, James Jesus Angleton.
Angleton had been appointed to the position of DCI in 1969 after Richard Helms was appointed US Secretary of State by President Murphy. Angleton was deeply interested in political stability around the globe and the susceptibility of European nations to Communism and influence from Moscow. He had notably played a role in the infamous 1948 Italian general election, where the anti-communist Christian Democracy party ‘won’ the election; though most evidence points to communist aligned front of Palmiro Togliatti. By the early 1970’s Angleton’s paranoia had focussed on the United Kingdom. Britain, with her powerful trade union movement and “rabidly anti-Washington government” (according to one internal CIA report), seemed ripe for Soviet influence. There was method to Angleton’s madness. In 1962, Major Anatoliy Golitsyn defected to the west and informed the somewhat sceptical Angleton that there was a plot to assassinate a western political leader and to replace him with a Soviet plant. Angleton and his associates put two and two together and assumed that there had been a concerted effort in the UK after Hugh Gaitskell’s death in 1963, to appoint a Soviet puppet as leader of the Labour Party. Callaghan, despite his ‘faults’ was deemed to be unlikely to be a communist, his opponent in 1963, Tony Greenwood, was deemed to have been a Soviet plant in the eyes of Angleton and his equally paranoid associates. Despite there being, at most a mere hunch that Greenwood was aligned with Moscow, Angleton set about working to start a whisper campaign in the British press to discredit Greenwood, who was then Chancellor. This scheme, which was only really receptive in the Express and Sketch newspapers, was found to be completely pointless; first due to the fact these papers were expected to be nominally opposed to Greenwood and the government; secondly Greenwood would be out within a year over a completely different matter. Still, in the mind of James Angleton, there was still a communist influence within the Labour Party. A variety of sources claimed that a variety of Labour MPs were secret Soviet spies, most of them were either on the hard-left or close to the trade union movement. In one notable ‘cock-up’, the Education Secretary, Ray Gunter was said to be a Soviet spy. It was only after several sources had informed the British security services that Gunter was on the old-right of the party and was hardly in any way sympathetic to the Soviets, that the suggestions against his died down.
By this time Angleton had established a variety of ‘sources’ within parliament, notably his personal friend and Conservative Member of Parliament for Meriden, Jonathan Aitken; and John Gouriet. Gouriet by this time had become known for his hardline rhetoric against Republicanism in Northern Ireland, the trade union movement; and the government’s foreign policy. He was also lampooned in Private Eye due to his frequent calls for the formation of a House of Commons Select Committee on un-British Activities (a call which had first been made twenty-five years prior by the hard-right Tory MP for Orpington, Sir Waldon Smithers.) The argument of these figures on the ‘New Right’ was that it was not a coincidence that “so many” Labour MPs and frontbenchers were former Communist Party members. These suggestions were laughed off at the time - what sane person would think Denis Healey a Communist? Through the NFA’s newsletter, old quotes of the likes of Anthony Crosland, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, Denis Healey, and Roy Jenkins (conveniently forgetting that he was now a Liberal MP) were ‘dug up’ and taken out of context; a homosexual love affair between Jenkins and Crosland was alleged (Crosland ignoring the allegations, while Jenkins threatened to sue); and much was made of past group memberships.
Despite the best efforts of the NFA and some ‘in high places’, not much was made of their allegations in the press in general; most were focussed on the Labour leadership election.[1]
The first round of the Labour leadership election was set to be held on the last week of March, concluding in early April. The long nature of the race was intentional on the part of the party’s outgoing leadership. It was predicted that the race would yield large amounts of interest and candidates for the leadership; it was decided that it was best to have the race draw out for a longer than usual length, so as to enable the choice to become clearer, with the lesser candidates dropping out by March. As expected, the day after Callaghan’s announcement was led with speculation in the press over why he had resigned and who was in the running to replace him. The hardline Home Secretary, Bob Mellish was sure to run for the leadership; his abrasive and divisive personality and style were thought to turn many in the PLP off him, but he also courted support from many on the Old Right within the party, still the dominant force in the party. The Chancellor, Anthony Crosland was also rumoured to be in the running; he was seen as a rather weak and unpopular figure, especially after his initial tenure at the Treasury. Another name mentioned was the Deputy Prime Minister, George Brown; he still thought of himself as the logical successor to Callaghan, but his reputation for living life in the bottle and awkward (despite being popular with the general public) was thought to cancel out any sort of path to victory for him. The Foreign Secretary, Denis Healey was seen to be a safe pair of hands; a figure on the right of the party, who wasn’t as ‘intolerant’ as Mellish, but was seen to have a similar abrasiveness that the Home Secretary had. The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Peter Shore was also seen as a likely candidate; Shore was seen as a Callaghan loyalist, yet was also know for a maverick flare which could either make or break his candidacy. The President of the Board of Trade, Anthony ‘Tony’ Benn was seen as a next tier candidate; Benn was a figure within the centre of the party, though he was sometimes called a Gaitskellite by some on the left. He was seen to be a potential leadership candidate in a future race, in running this time he was merely (like Enoch Powell) leaving his calling card for the future. The Health Secretary, Simon Mahon was seen to be a potential kingmaker, due to his control over a bloc of stridently socially conservative MPs from the Merseyside and Scottish central belt areas. Other names suggested were the Home Office Minister Merlyn Rees, backbench rebel and left-wing stalwart Michael Foot (Foot later confirmed he would run for the deputy leadership being vacated by Brown), Leader of the House of Commons Patrick Gordon Walker, and Ray Gunter, the Education Secretary. Of the candidates hypothesised from the editorial pages of the newspapers, the majority were seen to be Callaghanite continuity candidates, only Benn, Foot, and Crosland were seen to present a new juncture for the party.
The first candidate to announce his intention to run for the leadership of the party was Healey. Healey announced a platform that was, in essence, placing him as a continuity candidate within the party - a safe pair of hands who would not alter the trajectory that Callaghan had set the party in 1963. Healey was said to have the support of several dozen MPs, Birmingham MP Roy Hattersley and Education Minister Shirley Williams were said to be strong supporters of his campaign. Next to announce was Mahon; his platform placing him squarely on the hard-right of the party socially and a general consensus candidate on economic matters. Mahon held sway with the equally culturally conservative Labour MPs in the Merseyside and central belt in Scotland regions; Mahon himself seemed to concede that he probably wouldn't win, but he was well placed to be a kingmaker should the race continue on for several ballots. Naturally, his strongest backer was his brother and fellow frontbencher, Peter Mahon (who represented a neighbouring Merseyside constituency), the campaign was aided by future MPs for the Merseyside (or Mahonside as it was later dubbed) area, Frank Field and David Alton. Peter Shore's announcement was a strange affair, with him announcing that a Shore government would push for British withdrawal from NATO, there would be no pursuing of British EEC membership, and there would be a continuation of the Callaghan government's policies. He then proceeded to announce that long time backbench critic of the government, Michael Foot would not be contesting the leadership and would instead run for the deputy leadership on a 'joint ticket' with Shore. This strange unity ticket of a nominal Callaghan loyalist and a Callaghan critic was compared in Private Eye to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Harold Wilson announced his leadership bid soon after, becoming the first candidate to advocate (in his words) "a new departure." This 'new departure' was said to be a shift to the left socially, and a shift to the right economically. Wilson's bid was backed by his ally and Barbara Castle, who had been named as a potential leadership candidate in her own right. Merlyn Rees, a Home Office Minister, announced his Deputy Leadership aspirations soon after. He would be joined not long after by Patrick Gordon Walker, whose bid attracted an equally small amount of interest from the media and the general public (in comparison to Foot.)
The suave John Stonehouse announced his bid in front of a large audience in central London, he called for a "New Deal" in British politics; in effect a continuation of the current government's policies but with a more 'youthful' look. Questions concerning his finances were brushed off by his backers and campaign officials, despite an 'expose' in the Evening Standard which pointed out that he had been involved in various failed business ventures in the past. These allegations were generally 'blotted' out by newspapers such as The Sun, which was owned by Stonehouse backer and Minister Robert Maxwell. George Brown's leadership bid was announced not long after, he had achieved the support of Ray Gunter and Bob Mellish (who's announcement that he would not run was one of the great surprises of the race; he privately acknowledge that even if he won, he would be out of office within two years due to the current polling numbers for the government). This meant that he could claim to be the Callaghanite candidate, with the support of several elements of the Prime Minister's inner circle. Suggestions and sniggers were still persisting concerning his relationship with alcohol and how he was a difficult person to work with. Brown hit the ground running, using the same tactics that had won him plaudits in 1966 (when he had fended off 'legions' of young Tories armed with eggs to pelt him with, with only his soapbox and wit to help him.) Frank Pakenham, the 7th Earl of Longford and the Colonial Secretary for many years announced his own quixotic leadership bid not long before the close of nominations. He made an issue of his peerage, saying that he could simply disclaim his peerage if (and when) he won. This was naturally a very popular stance for many Labour MPs who formed the electorate for the leadership election. The grand total of candidates rose to nine by the time nominations closed. The two Anthonys - Crosland and Benn both announced their intentions to run for the leadership. Benn was seen to be merely leaving his 'calling card' for a future leadership bid, meanwhile, Crosland was in a fight for his very career, he was seen to be a marked man for sacking after his rather unpopular stay at the Treasury. Despite the long period of time from Callaghan's announcement before Christmas and the close of nominations, the first ballot occurred soon after the close of nominations.
The first ballot produced no clear winner, with Wilson leading with 63 votes, followed by Healey on 54 votes, Stonehouse on 48, Brown on 40 votes, Gunter on 31 votes, Shore on 28 votes, Benn on 25 votes, Mahon on 20 votes, Crosland on 18 votes, and Pakenham on eight votes. The result of the ballot seemed to throw the whole race into a flux. Healey's positions as the frontrunner had been thrown into jeopardy, while Wilson and Brown had strangely performed much better than expected. As a result of coming in the last place, Pakenham was eliminated from the second ballot, he proceeded to endorse Brown for the leadership. Other candidates sensing that they had no chance at winning or progressing further, namely Crosland and Benn, announced they would be withdrawing from the race, and would both be endorsing Wilson for the leadership. Ray Gunter, who had privately made a deal with the Brown that whichever one of them performed better on the first ballot, would receive the other candidate's support - in return for a cabinet post of their picking. He summarily endorsed Brown after falling nine votes behind the Deputy Prime Minister.
The next ballot was due to be held five days after the first ballot, with most predicting that Wilson would maintain his lead, while Brown would increase his share, and in turn, leapfrog into second place ahead of Healey. There was much debate as to how the other candidates would fall if and when they were excluded from the race. Most assumed that Mahon would back Brown, while Healey if push came to shove, would back Brown (despite calling him a drunkard, among other things multiple times), Shore's endorsement was still considered up for grabs. The all important votes and backing of Stonehouse would be indispensable for the remaining two candidates, Stonehouse himself was considered to fall between the two main candidates ideologically, making his endorsement an issue of much discussion.
Then the Daily Sketch lead with an exclusive stating that an unidentified frontbencher had "close ties" with the Soviet Union and was potentially in the pay of an Eastern Bloc nation. No one thought much of it initially, then the Guardian stated that it too had found evidence that an 'unspecified' government official was aligned to the Communist bloc, this according to an unnamed source within the government.
Perhaps James Angleton and the NAF weren't so crazy after all?
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