FORMER Cabinet minister Lord Hurd gave the second Harold Wilson Lecture at Huddersfield University's Canalside West building last night.
He spoke with great warmth about the former Huddersfield-born Prime Minister and praised the statue in St George's Square which he saw for the first time on his visit to the town.
Lord Wilson's widow Mary was in the 100-strong audience for the lecture, which also included university vice chancellor Prof John Tarrant and the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten.
Lord Hurd commended the politician for his wit, intelligence and energy.
"Clearly when I served in Ted Heath's Opposition, Harold Wilson was the enemy," said Lord Hurd.
"He was the one whose picture we all threw darts at in the pub or wanted to have an effigy of to stick pins in. Yet he was certainly not a hateful figure. Rather the reverse.
"I admired the statue of him outside the railway station as I came in. It breathes something of the man's wit, intelligence and energy.
"Lord Wilson was a man who genuinely did his best for his country."
Lord Hurd observed that Lord Wilson would have approved of the lecture series that now bears his name, on the proviso that each would be followed by open and frank debate.
He invited the audience to question or challenge the points he was going to make during a question and answer session at the end.
Drawing on his experiences as a young UN diplomat in the 1950s and his experiences in Opposition and in government, Lord Hurd gave a personal talk entitled: 'The international community: Is it based on rules or power?'
The annual lecture is jointly organised by the university and the Church of England's Wakefield diocese.
