Sir Alec Douglas-Home, previously Earl Home, was a Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1964, succeeding Harold Macmillan.
The Light's agents in the Conservative Party had ensured he became party leader, seeing him as a fool who'd be a good fall guy for their plot to destroy the US and USSR. (Sir Francis White later remarked that this was why his rise was so "surprising") After the assassination of his Defence Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, he was steered into appointing Light men (including his Chief Whip, Sir Robert Devere) to those positions. However, the Intrusion Countermeasures Group, the Seventh Doctor, and Ace were able to thwart the plot and save Douglas-Home's life. The Doctor and Ace briefly met him at the Starfire launch and he was able to call off an army pursuit of them. (AUDIO: 1963: The Assassination Games)
In 1964, there was a failed attempt to kidnap him, which was subsequently covered up by the British government. Sir Toby Kinsella once remarked that the civil service's job was "trying to work out what Earl Home [accidentally calling him that] thinks so we can agree with him before he's said it." (AUDIO: The Pelage Project)
Later that year, he was succeeded by Harold Wilson as the Labour Party won the general election. General Peters regarded Douglas-Home as ineffectual but believed that he had the right idea about the United Kingdom's place in the world. (AUDIO: State of Emergency)
Behind the scenes
- Douglas-Home gave up his earldom in order to become Prime Minister as a PM from the House of Lords would not have been accepted. Sir Toby calls him "Earl Home" and then corrects himself, saying that is a "hard habit to break," as a nod to this.
- His rise to power was indeed surprising: all three of the frontrunners had underperformed, turning Douglas-Home from a hypothetical compromise into a genuine candidate.
- Douglas-Home did not have a Deputy Prime Minister in real life.