A memorial for Huddersfield-born prime minister Harold Wilson was unveiled at Westminster Abbey last night.
The ledger stone has been sited in the north-west corner of the Abbey’s nave of Westminster Abbey and was dedicated at a special service.
It was in memory of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx and the service was attended by members of his family, including his widow Lady Wilson.
The service was led by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall.
Lord Wilson, who was born in Cowlersley in March 1916, was the Labour Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.
His ledger stone is near the place where Earl Attlee’s ashes were interred at a memorial service attended by Harold Wilson as Prime Minister in 1967.
Professor The Honourable Robin Wilson asked the Dean, on behalf of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, to take the memorial into the safe custody of the Abbey.
Other guests at last night’s ceremony included the Bishop of Wakefield, the Right Rev Stephen Platten, and Baroness Williams.
The Bishop said: “As one of West Yorkshire’s most famous sons, I am delighted that Harold Wilson is being properly commemorated at the very heart of the nation.”
Flowers were laid at the memorial by the great-grandchildren of Lord Wilson and the Order of Service included the poem Sunset by his widow Lady Wilson.
The ceremony follows calls led by Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman for a statue of the former Labour leader.
He and other political experts have argued that the former Huddersfield man deserves to be recognised at Westminster alongside other notables including Gladstone, Churchill, Attlee, Lloyd George, and Margaret Thatcher.
Lord Wilson, who was born in Warneford Road, Cowlersley, in 1916, died in May 1995.
