Harold Wilson doesn't resign in 1976

[Dr. Cynic]

I think Wilson was tired by 76. I don't think he could have soldiered on much longer based on his current health. His memory was failing and he had become paranoid. I think really the only reason he stayed on that long was because he wanted to see off Ted Heath.

Wilson's resignation wasn't a mistake, I don't think. Callaghan not calling the election in '78 was because he certainly would've had a majority enough to make it through a full parliament.

[Dr. Cynic]

I think Tony Benn mentioned on a panel show he was on with Roy Hattersley and David Owen that the only people Wilson told he was resigning were Callaghan (to give him a jump on the leadership election) and one other person whose name escapes me. Hattersley and Owen both said they hadn't expected it so suddenly. Hattersley was on a foreign trip at the time and someone told him "The Prime Minister has resigned". He actually thought the person meant the PM in the country he happened to be visiting and not Wilson.