 In October 1963 Macmillan was taken ill and resigned as Prime Minister . Home ( pronounced ' Hume ' ) was chosen to succeed him . By the 1960s it was generally considered unacceptable for a Prime Minister to sit in the House of Lords , and Home renounced his earldom and successfully stood for election to the House of Commons . The manner of his appointment was controversial , and two of Macmillan 's cabinet ministers refused to take office under him . He was criticised by the Labour Party as an aristocrat , out of touch with the problems of ordinary families , and he came over stiffly in television interviews , by contrast with the Labour leader , Harold Wilson . The Conservative Party , in office since 1951 , had lost standing as a result of the Profumo affair , a sexual scandal involving a defence minister in 1963 , and at the time of Home 's appointment as Prime Minister seemed headed for heavy electoral defeat . Home 's premiership was the second briefest of the twentieth century , lasting two days short of a year . Among the legislation passed under his government was the abolition of resale price maintenance , bringing costs down for the consumer against the interests of producers of food and other commodities . 
