The National Computing Centre: “White Heat,” Modernization, and Postwar Manchester

The creation of Britain's National Computing Centre (NCC) was publicly announced by Frank Cousins, the first minister of technology in Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour government, in March 1965.¹ The Ministry of Technology (MinTech) was created as Wilson took office in October 1964, and it signaled his administration's commitment to his 1963 vision of an ultramodern Britain “forged in the white heat [of a scientific] revolution.”² The phrase “White Heat” became synonymous with Wilson's government and is popularly used to characterize the scientific and technological boom of mid-1960s Britain. Wilson's vision of economic security by means of technological advancement was central to the Labour Party election...