ABSTRACT
WILSON'S CABINET: 'BUOYANT ATMOSPHERE' Wilson took over again on 4 March 1974, heading Britain's first minority government since the Labour government of 1929-31. According to Barbara Castle, 'Despite the precariousness of our situation there was a buoyant atmosphere as we met for our first Cabinet.'] Wilson's 1964 experience stood him in good stead and he resolved, once again, to act as if he had a working majority. He knew the other parties would think twice before forcing another election. He constructed his Cabinet around well-known figures the country was used to: Healey at the Exchequer, Callaghan at the Foreign Office and Jenkins at the Home Office. Edward Short, the former Durham headmaster and wartime captain in the Durham Light Infantry, became Lord President of the Council and Leader of the Commons. Deputy leader of Labour, 1972-76, he had served at Education and Science, 1968-70. Anthony Crosland (1918-77) went to Environment. A wartime parachute captain, whose father was a senior civil servant and one of the Plymouth Brethren, Crosland gained a first in PPE at Oxford and was a wartime captain in the Parachute Regiment. He had previously served at Education and Science, the Board of Trade and Local Government.
