page_title: Labour government, 1964–1970
section_title: Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Labour government, 1964–1970 / History / External affairs / Asia
caption_attribution_description: English: Harold and Zara Holt with Harold and Mary Wilson in 1967.
context_page_description: Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 October 1964 and formed the first Wilson ministry, a Labour government, which held office with a thin majority between 1964 and 1966. In an attempt to gain a workable majority in the House of Commons, Wilson called a new election for 31 March 1966, after which he formed the second Wilson ministry, a government which held office for four years until 1970.
context_section_description: Since 1945 Britain's presence in the Far East had gradually been run down. Former British colonies, whose defence had provided much of the rationale for a British military presence in the region, became independent.  London became increasingly conscious of the cost to the exchequer and the economy of maintaining major forces abroad (in parallel, several schemes to develop strategic weaponry were abandoned on the grounds of cost, for example, the Blue Streak missile in 1960.  Instead of building its own delivery system, Britain relied on purchase of American technology, especially the Polaris submarine-based missile that was purchased in 1963.
  Part of the price paid by Wilson for US financial assistance was his agreement in 1967 to maintain a military presence East of Suez.   But it was simply too expensive, when domestic priorities were more pressing. In July 1967 Defence Secretary Denis Healey announced that Britain would abandon her mainland bases East of Suez by 1977. Some airmobile forces would be retained which could if necessary be deployed in the region. In January 1968, Wilson announced that the timetable for this withdrawal was to be accelerated, and that British forces were to be withdrawn from Singapore, Malaysia, and the Persian Gulf by the end of 1971.
  Wilson held strong pro-Israel views. He was a particular friend of Israeli Premier Golda Meir. Another associate, although not as solid on Israel, was West German Chancellor Willy Brandt; all three were members of the Socialist International.
caption: Harold and Mary Wilson (left) greeting the Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt and his wife  in 1967. The Australians strongly urged the British to maintain their military commitment in the Far East.[110]
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