Entry in progress—B.P.
 
“Overnight is a long time in politics; a week is forever.”
   
Wikiquote: Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1976. He had an impressive educational background, becoming an Oxford don at 21 and working as a war time civil servant; he was made a government minister immediately after he was elected to Parliament. As Leader of the Labour Party he moved the party towards a technocratic approach and appeared more in tune with the ‘swinging sixties’; however his government was beset by economic difficulties and he was unexpectedly defeated in 1970. His return to office with a tiny majority in the mid-1970s saw a referendum which endorsed British membership of the European Communities. He resigned suddenly in 1976, and in his retirement suffered from Alzheimers’ disease.
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Attributed
A week is a long time in politics.
. Probably first said during a lobby briefing in late 1964.
 
24 July 1966, New York (NY) Times, “Britain in Crisis; Wilson Moves To Bolster Pound The Sad Story Of Sterling,” pg. 128:
One of Harold Wilson’s favorite sayings is that a week is a long time in the life of a Prime Minister.
   
19 May 1967, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Will the Tories Peak Too Soon?” by Robert C. Toth, pt. II, pg. A4:
But even a week Is a long time In British politics, as Wilson has been reminding his restive followers.
   
Google Books
To make war or make peace; proceedings.
Tel Aviv, New Outlook
1969
Pg. 158:
We have a saying in Britain that a week is a long time in politics.
   
Time magazine
BRITAIN: Wilson’s First Hundred Hours
Monday, Mar. 18, 1974
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In the uncertain days of his first administration (1964-66) Wilson liked to quip: “A week is a long time in politics.”