Wilson led Labour to a narrow victory at the 1964 election, and was appointed prime minister. His first period as prime minister saw a period of low unemployment and relative economic prosperity, although this would later become hindered by significant problems with Britain's external balance of payments. The Wilson Government oversaw significant societal changes in the United Kingdom, abolishing both capital punishment and theatre censorship, decriminalising homosexuality in England and Wales, relaxing the divorce laws and liberalising abortion law. In the midst of this, Wilson called a snap election in 1966, which Labour won by a landslide. In 1969, Wilson sent British troops to Northern Ireland.