The pre-election campaign was prolonged, as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election to give himself as much time as possible to improve the prospects of his party. The Labour Party indicated that it held high popular support by winning the
1964 London local elections. Conservative leaders became more optimistic about their chances after winning three
by-elections in Winchester,
Bury St. Edmunds, and
Devizes. The election campaign formally began on 25 September 1964 when Douglas-Home saw the Queen and asked for a
dissolution of Parliament. The dissolution notably occurred without a formal royal prorogation and recall for the first time since 1922. The campaign was dominated by some of the more voluble characters of the political scene at the time. While
George Brown, deputy leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making energetic speeches (and the occasional
gaffe),
Quintin Hogg was a leading spokesman for the Conservatives. The image of Hogg lashing out at a Wilson poster with his walking stick was one of the most striking of the campaign. The Labour Party campaigned on what historian
Andrew Thorpe called "the basis of revisionism given a significant twist in the direction of Wilsonian planning, and a more
dirigiste approach to industrial modernization." Labour called for greater co-ordination between state-run enterprises and repeated its past pledges for the renationalisation of the steel and road haulage industries, but declared that it would not nationalise any further industries. The party also promised expansions of social services, tax reform, and what would become the
prices and incomes policy to control
inflation. In
education it sought
comprehensivisation of
secondary education and a higher
school-leaving age, while in
immigration it sought both
immigration quotas restricting future entry and equal rights for immigrants who had already arrived in the country. In foreign policy it pledged a re-evaluation of previous governments'
foreign aid and
alliances, increased British assertiveness at the United Nations, and a build-up of the conventional components of the
British Armed Forces, but did not promise
unilateral nuclear disarmament as some left-wing members of the party desired. While early campaigning suggested that a Labour government would abandon the
Polaris nuclear weapons programme, Wilson quickly decided to avoid this topic altogether due to the continuing popularity of an independent British nuclear deterrent. Labour's platform of a "socialist foreign policy" also criticised the Conservative government for its handling of a scandal involving the British defence contractor
Ferranti, the
Aden Emergency,
Cypriot intercommunal violence, the escalation of the
Vietnam War, arms sales to
apartheid South Africa, and a contract to construct
naval frigates for
Francoist Spain. Douglas-Home's unpopularity – caused by his aristocratic background, his accession to the premiership without a formal election, his economic and trade policies, and the side-lining of popular Conservative leaders such as
Enoch Powell and
Iain Macleod – harmed the Conservative Party in the election. Even many Conservatives condemned Douglas-Home for the
Resale Prices Act 1964 abolishing
resale price maintenance. Douglas-Home's predecessor Macmillan described him as an "urbane but resolute character — iron painted to look like wood". However, his campaigning did allow the Conservative Party's gap in the polls to narrow. The Conservative manifesto
Prosperity with a Purpose pledged closer relations with the
Atlantic world and the
Commonwealth of Nations, development of
nuclear power, industrial retraining, increased capital investment in British industry, and continued development of the
BAC TSR-2 supersonic aircraft project. The Conservative campaign emphasised the party's diplomatic successes, such as the Nassau Agreement, the
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the defence of
Malaysia in the
Borneo Confrontation. As in previous elections since its decline, the Liberal Party under
Jo Grimond's leadership positioned itself as a non-socialist,
individualist alternative to Labour. The two key domestic policy pledges in its manifesto
Think for Yourself, Vote Liberal were healthcare reform and
devolution for
Scotland and
Wales. Many party speakers, especially at televised rallies, had to deal with hecklers; in particular Douglas-Home was treated very roughly at a meeting in
Birmingham. Douglas-Home's speeches dealt with the future of the nuclear deterrent, while fears of Britain's relative decline on the world stage, reflected in chronic
balance of payment problems, helped the Labour Party's case. By 1964, television had developed as a medium and played a much greater role than in previous British elections. The election received more coverage from current affairs programs such as
BBC1's
Panorama,
Associated-Rediffusion's
This Week, and
Granada Television's
World in Action, as well as political satire inspired by the success of
That Was the Week That Was. == Opinion polling ==