During this period, there were personal rivalries between Wilson and his most powerful cabinet colleagues. Wilson always feared that he might face a leadership challenge from Brown or Callaghan or Jenkins. In fact, Wilson did not face any obvious challenger, and therefore it it possible to criticise Wilson as in some ways it appears that too much of his energy and attention was devoted to trying to keep the party united and in stopping any of his colleagues from being able to threaten his position.
The only slight opposition Wilson faced was from the left-wing party members in the unions, local government and young people, who were frustrated by his government and this made it likely that there would be party divisions re-emerging in the 1970s. These divisions, along with the confusion of party line due to conflicts between individuals, caused labour to appear to have no party line, which could have been one of the reasons labour lost in the 1970 general election.
On the contrary, it must be remembered these divisions were not as pronounced compared to those between 1951 and 1964, and labour did win in 1966, despite evidence of conflicts between individuals when George Brown was appointed head of the DEA.
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