Career
He was Chief Whip of the Labour group in 1984 when Ken Livingstone resigned from the Greater London Council to force a by-election aimed at showing the popularity of the Greater London Council. Wilson acted as Leader of the Greater London Council while Livingstone was not a member. Wilson was a professional electrician working for London Transport. He joined the Labour Party in Wall End, East Ham, in February 1970, and that October was selected as a local election candidate.
In May 1971 he was elected as a Labour councillor on Newham Borough Council representing Wall End ward.
On the left-wing of the party, Wilson frequently proposed resolutions at the local branch. Wilson was also a delegate to the Newham North East Constituency Labour Party from the Newham Business Garage branch of the EETPU in November 1973, when he first proposed a motion of no confidence in the constituency"s sitting Labour Member of Parliament, Regional Prentice.
He was provoked by Prentice"s criticism of trade unionists who had been leading protests against the Industrial Relations Acting 1971, in particular the Pentonville Five. While Prentice continued as the Member of Parliament, criticism of him by the local party continued. in 1975 Wilson moved a motion inviting Prentice to retire at the next election (such a motion being the established way to deselect a sitting Labour Member of Parliament).
The motion passed by 12 votes to 8 at a meeting of the local party Executive at the end of June 1975, and was subsequently ratified by a meeting of the entire local party.
Prentice eventually defected to the Conservatives. He was elected at the 1977 elections, increasing the Labour vote compared with the last election in 1973. Leadership
With Livingstone no longer a councillor for the period of the byelection, the council administration was transferred to the Policy Committee of which Wilson was the most senior member, and he was designated as the interim council leader.
The Conservatives on the council refused to recognise his authority, but his name was quickly added to the list of Greater London Council Leaders engraved outside the council chamber.
