ABSTRACT
In 1963, the Conservative government led by Harold Macmillan was in disarray. Set back by De Gaulle’s ‘Non!’ to British entry into the European Community, rocked on its heels by the Profumo affair, and facing a vigorous Labour opposition under the comparatively youthful leadership of Harold Wilson, the Conservatives were confronting the prospect of a protracted and messy leadership struggle as Macmillan’s health declined and his reputation waned. There were a number of plausible contenders: in the House of Commons, Iain Macleod, Reginald Maudling, and Macmillan’s deputy, R.A.Butler; and also the peers Lord Hailsham and Lord Home (later Alec Douglas-Home) whose way to the Commons leadership had been cleared that year by an Act of Parliament faciliating the renunciation of his title by Antony Wedgwood-Benn.
