The Right Honourable  Sir Edward Heath  KG MBE
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Harold Wilson
Succeeded by	Harold Wilson
Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, and President of the Board of Trade
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	Fred Erroll
Succeeded by	Douglas Jay
Minister of Labour and National Service (until 1959) Minister of Labour (from 1959)
In office 14 October 1959 – 27 July 1960
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Iain MacLeod
Succeeded by	John Hare
Leader of the Opposition
In office July 28, 1965 – June 19, 1970
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Alec Douglas-Home
Succeeded by	Harold Wilson
In office March 4, 1974 – February 11, 1975
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Harold Wilson
Succeeded by	Margaret Thatcher
Born	July 9, 1916(1916-07-09) Broadstairs, Kent, United Kingdom
Died	17 July 2005 (aged 89) Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Profession	Journalist/ Civil Servant
Religion	Anglican

Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, MBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath's accession represented a change in the leadership of the Conservative party, from aristocratic figures such as Harold Macmillan and Lord Home to the self-consciously meritocratic Heath, and later, Margaret Thatcher. Edward Heath can refer to a number of people:- Edward Heath, British Prime Minister from 1970-74 Edward Heath (mayor of New Orleans), mayor of New Orleans from 1867 to 1868. ... The Right Honourable (abbreviated as or ) is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and in other Commonwealth Realms, and elsewhere. ... The insignia of a knight of the Order of the Garter. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 572 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (676 × 709 pixel, file size: 73 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... Frederick James Erroll, 1st Baron Erroll of Hale (27 May 1914–14 September 2000) was a British Conservative politician. ... Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, Baron Jay, PC (23 March 1907 – 6 March 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. ... Minister of Labour re-directs here. ... Minister of Labour re-directs here. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... Iain Norman Macleod, PC (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. ... John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham OBE PC (January 22, 1911–March 7, 1982) was a British peer and statesman, the son of Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel. ... The Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Her Majestys Most Loyal Opposition. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... , Broadstairs is a coastal town on The Isle Of Thanet in East Kent, England, 76 miles east of London with excellent and first class road links (1 hour from the M25) with a population of about 22,000. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the city in the United Kingdom. ... Not to be confused with Wilshire. ... The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Alma mater (disambiguation). ... and of the Balliol College College name Balliol College Named after John de Balliol Established 1263 Sister college St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham JCR President Helen Lochead Undergraduates 403 MCR President Chelsea Payne Graduates 228 Location of Balliol College within central Oxford , Homepage Boatclub Balliol College (pronounced... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[3] in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communions thirty-eight independent national churches. ... The insignia of a knight of the Order of the Garter. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ...

Early life

Ted (or "Teddy" as he was known as a young man) Heath was born the son of a carpenter and a maid from Broadstairs in Kent, England. His father was later a successful small businessman. He was educated at Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, and also at The King's School, Canterbury for the Sixth form, where he was head boy, and in 1935 with the aid of a county scholarship he went up to study at Balliol College, Oxford. A talented musician, he won the college's Organ scholarship in his first term (he had previously tried for the organ scholarships at St Catharine's College, Cambridge and Keble College, Oxford), which enabled him to stay at the University for a fourth year; he eventually graduated with a Second Class Honours BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in 1939. In later life Heath's peculiar accent, with its "strangulated" vowel sounds, was a source of much comment; Heath's biographer John Campbell speculates that, unlike his father and younger brother, who both spoke with Kent accents, his speech must have undergone "drastic alteration on encountering Oxford". , Broadstairs is a coastal town on The Isle Of Thanet in East Kent, England, 76 miles east of London with excellent and first class road links (1 hour from the M25) with a population of about 22,000. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Chatham House Grammar School is a grammar school in Ramsgate, Kent founded in 1797 as a private boys boarding school by William Humble, under the name Humbles Boys School. ... For other uses, see Ramsgate (disambiguation). ... The Kings School is a British independent school situated in Canterbury, Kent. ... and of the Balliol College College name Balliol College Named after John de Balliol Established 1263 Sister college St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham JCR President Helen Lochead Undergraduates 403 MCR President Chelsea Payne Graduates 228 Location of Balliol College within central Oxford , Homepage Boatclub Balliol College (pronounced... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... An organ scholar is a young man or woman who is employed as a part-time assistant organist in a cathedral or collegiate church. ... Full name Collegium sive aula D. Catharinæ in Universitate Cantabrigiensi Motto   For the wheel! (unofficial) Named after St Catharine of Alexandria Previous names Katharine Hall (1473-1860) Established 1473 Sister College(s) Worcester College Master Prof. ... College name Keble College Collegium Keblense Named after John Keble Established 1870 Sister College Selwyn College Warden Professor Dame Averil Cameron DBE FBA JCR President Paul Dwyer Undergraduates 435 MCR President Tom Robinson Graduates 219 Homepage Boatclub Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A B.A. issued from the University of Tennessee. ... Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is a popular interdisciplinary degree which combines study from the three eponymous disciplines. ...

While at university Heath became active in Conservative politics. However, on the key political issue of the day, foreign policy, he opposed the Conservative-dominated government of the day ever more openly. His first Paper Speech (i.e. a major speech listed on the order paper along with the visiting guest speakers) at the Oxford Union, in Michaelmas 1936, was in opposition to the appeasement of Germany by returning her colonies, confiscated after the First World War. In June 1937 he was elected President of the Oxford University Conservative Association as a pro-Spanish Republic candidate, in opposition to the pro-Franco John Stokes (later a Conservative MP). In 1937-8 he was also chairman of the national Federation of University Conservative Associations, and in the same year (his third at University) he was Secretary then Librarian of the Oxford Union. At the end of the year, however, he was defeated for the Presidency of the Oxford Union by another Balliol candidate, Alan Wood, on the issue of whether the Chamberlain government should give way to a left-wing Popular Front. On this occasion Heath supported the government. Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. ... The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student political organization founded in 1924 whose members are drawn from Oxford University. ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Republic in exile dissolved July 15, 1977 Currency Spanish... Sir John Heydon Romaine Stokes, (Knight Bachelor, 1988), (23 July 1917 - 27 June 2003), was a British politician, a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, and a long-standing member of both the Conservative Monday Club, and the Primrose League. ...

In his final year Heath was President of Balliol College Junior Common Room, an office held in subsequent years by his near-contemporaries Denis Healey and Roy Jenkins, and as such was invited to support the Master of Balliol Alexander Lindsay, who stood as an anti-appeasement 'Independent Progressive' candidate against the official Conservative candidate, Quintin Hogg, in the October 1938 Oxford by-election. Heath, who had himself applied to be the Conservative candidate for the by-election ^[1], accused the government in an October Union Debate of "turning all four cheeks" to Hitler, and was elected as President of the Oxford Union in November 1938, sponsored by Balliol, after winning the Presidential Debate that "This House has No Confidence in the National Government as presently constituted". He was thus President in Hilary Term 1939; the visiting Leo Amery described him in his diaries as "a pleasant youth". The term Junior Combination Room or Junior Common Room (JCR) is used in many British universities (as well as at Harvard College in the United States) to refer to the collective of students (similar to a students union) at a constituent part of a university, typically a college or a... Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, CH, MBE, PC (born 30 August 1917), is a British Labour politician. ... Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, OM, PC (November 11, 1920 – January 5, 2003) was a British politician and a prominent Labour Member of Parliament in the 1960s and 1970s, and founding member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). ... Alexander Lindsay can refer to: Alexander Lindsay of Barnweill (d. ... Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950–1963), was a British judge and Conservative politician. ... Leopold Charles Maurice (or Moritz) Stennett Amery (22 November 1873 - 16 September 1955), was a British statesman and Conservative politician. ...

As an undergraduate, Heath travelled widely in Europe. His opposition to appeasement was nourished by his witnessing first-hand a Nazi Party Nuremberg rally in 1937, where he met top Nazis Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler at an SS cocktail party. He later described Himmler as "the most evil man I have ever met". In 1938 he visited Barcelona, then under attack from Spanish Nationalist forces. In the summer of 1939 he again travelled across Germany, returning to England just in time before the declaration of war. The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: , or NSDAP, commonly, the Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ...   (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was a German politician and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich, designated successor to Adolf Hitler, and commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ; English generally IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Himmler redirects here. ...

World War II

Heath spent the winter of 1939-40 on a debating tour of the United States before being called up, and early in 1941 was commissioned in the Royal Artillery. During the Second World War he initially served with heavy anti-aircraft guns around Liverpool (which suffered heavy German bombing in May 1941), and by early 1942 was regimental adjutant, with the rank of captain. Later, by now a major commanding a battery of his own, he provided artillery support in the European campaign of 1944-5. He later remarked that, although he did not personally kill anybody, as the British forces advanced he saw devastation which must have been caused by his unit's bombardments. In September 1945 he commanded a firing squad to execute a Polish soldier convicted of rape and murder, a fact which he did not reveal until his memoirs were published in 1998. After demobilisation as a lieutenant-colonel in August 1946 Heath joined the Honourable Artillery Company, in which he remained active throughout the 1950s, rising to Commanding officer of the Second Regiment; a portrait of him in full dress uniform still hangs in the Long Room. In April 1971, as Prime Minister, he wore his lieutenant-colonel's insignia to inspect troops. The Royal Regiment of Artillery, generally known as the Royal Artillery (RA), is, despite its name, a corps of the British Army It is made up of a number of regiments. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ... Armorial bearings of the HAC, granted in 1821 The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior[2] in the Territorial Army [3] . // The HAC can trace its history as far back as 1296, but it received a Royal Charter... The commanding officer (CO) is the officer in command of a military unit. ...

Before the war Heath had won a scholarship to Gray's Inn and had begun making preparations for a career at the Bar, but after the war he instead passed top into the Civil Service. He then became a civil servant in the Ministry of Civil Aviation (he was disappointed not to be posted to the Treasury, but declined an offer to join the Foreign Office, fearing that foreign postings might prevent him from entering politics ^[2]). He resigned in November 1947 after his adoption as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Bexley. Entrance to Grays Inn Grays Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in around the Royal Courts of Justice in London, England to which barristers belong and where they are called to the bar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Member of Parliament

After working as Editor of the Church Times from 1948 to 1949, Heath worked as a management trainee at the merchant bankers Brown, Shipley & Co. until his election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexley in the February 1950 general election. In the election he defeated an old contemporary from the Oxford Union, Ashley Bramall, with a majority of 133 votes. Heath made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 26 June 1950, in which he appealed to the Labour Government to participate in the Schuman Plan. The Church Times is the worlds leading Anglican weekly newspaper. ... Brown, Shipley & Co. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Old Bexley and Sidcup is a UK parliamentary constituency situated wholly within the London Borough of Bexley. ... The United Kingdom general election in 1950 was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. ... Sir (Ernest) Ashley Bramall (January 6, 1916 – February 10, 1999) was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority for 11 years. ... A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected representative in such bodies as the House of Commons or the United States House of Representatives. ... is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Schuman Declaration is the name of the May 9, 1950 public appeal by Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, to place Frances and West Germanys coal and steel industries under joint management. ...

In February 1951, Heath was appointed as an Opposition Whip by Winston Churchill. He remained in the Whip's Office after the Conservatives won the 1951 general election, rising rapidly to Joint Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip and, in December 1955, Government Chief Whip under Anthony Eden. Because of the convention that Whips do not speak in Parliament, Heath managed to keep out of the controversy over the Suez Crisis. On the announcement of Anthony Eden's resignation, Heath submitted a report on the opinions of the Conservative MPs regarding Eden's possible successors. This report favoured Harold Macmillan and was instrumental in eventually securing Macmillan the premiership in January 1957.^{[citation needed]} Macmillan later appointed Heath Minister of Labour after the successful October 1959 election. In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... Churchill redirects here. ... The 1951 election was held soon after the UK general election, 1950, which Labour won, but with an unworkable majority. ... For the eponymous hat, see Anthony Eden hat. ... Belligerents Israel United Kingdom France Egypt Commanders Moshe Dayan Charles Keightley Pierre Barjot Gamal Abdel Nasser Abdel Hakim Amer Strength 175,000 Israeli 45,000 British 34,000 French 70,000 Casualties and losses 197 Israeli KIA 56 British KIA 91 British WIA 10 French KIA 43 French WIA 1650... For the eponymous hat, see Anthony Eden hat. ...

Heath was appointed Lord Privy Seal in 1960 by Harold Macmillan with responsibility for the negotiations to secure the UK's first attempt to join the Common Market (as the European Community was then called). After extensive negotiations, involving detailed agreements about the UK's agricultural trade with Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand; British entry was vetoed by the French President, General de Gaulle, at a press conference in January 1963. After this setback, a major humiliation for Macmillan's foreign policy, Heath was not a contender for the party leadership on Macmillan's retirement in October 1963. Under Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home he was President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, and oversaw the abolition of retail price controls. The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... The European Community (EC) was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... This article is about the person. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... In economics, incomes policies are wage and price controls used to fight inflation. ...

Leadership bid

After the Conservative Party lost the general election of 1964, the defeated Douglas-Home changed the party leadership rules to allow for an MP ballot vote, and then resigned. The following year Heath - who was Shadow Chancellor at the time, and had recently won favourable publicity for leading the fight against Labour's Finance Bill - unexpectedly won the party's leadership contest, gaining 150 votes to Reginald Maudling's 133 and Enoch Powell's 15. ^[3] Heath became the Tories' youngest leader and retained office after the party's defeat in the general election of 1966. The United Kingdom general election of 1964 result was a very slim majority for the Labour Party, of 4, and led to their first government since 1951. ... Rt. ... The UK general election in 1966 was called by Harold Wilson because his government, elected in the 1964 election, had an unworkably small majority. ...

Leader of the Opposition

Heath sacked Enoch Powell from the Shadow Cabinet in April 1968, shortly after Powell made his Rivers of Blood speech which criticised the recent mass immigration of Commonwealth immigrants to the United Kingdom and predicted "rivers of blood" if such immigration continued. John Enoch Powell, MBE (June 16, 1912 – February 8, 1998) was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet. ... The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of other smaller opposition parties) form an alternative cabinet to the governments, whose... On April 20, 1968, the British politician Enoch Powell made a controversial speech in Birmingham to the annual meeting of the West Midlands Conservative Political Centre, in which he warned his audience of what he believed would be the consequences of continued immigration from the Commonwealth to Britain. ... For other uses, see Commonwealth (disambiguation). ...

Heath never spoke to him again. Powell hadn't notified Conservative Central Office of his intentions to deliver the speech, and this was put forward as one reason for his dismissal. In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...

When Powell died on 8 February 1998, Heath was asked for his reaction, but he simply told the media: "I won't be making a statement." is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...

Prime Minister

With another general election looming in 1970, a Conservative policy document emerged from the Selsdon Park Hotel, which according to some historians ^[4] embraced fairly radical monetarist and free-market oriented policies as solutions to the country's unemployment and inflation problems. Heath stated that the Selsdon weekend only reaffirmed policies which had actually been evolving since he became leader of the Conservative Party. Labour's Prime Minister Harold Wilson thought the document a vote loser and dubbed it Selsdon Man in the attempt to portray it as reactionary. But Heath's Conservative Party won the general election of 1970 in a victory seen as a personal triumph that surprised almost all contemporary commentators.^{[citation needed]} For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ...

The new Cabinet contained some important future figures, including Margaret Thatcher (Education & Science), William Whitelaw (Leader of the House of Commons), and also an ex-Prime minister, Alec Douglas-Home, who filled the important brief of Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 – July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October...

As with all British governments in the 1970s, Heath's time in office was difficult. The government suffered an early blow with the death of Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod on 20 July 1970; his replacement Anthony Barber was a much less strong political personality. Heath's planned economic policy changes (including a significant shift from direct to indirect taxation) remained largely unimplemented; the Selsdon policy document was more or less abandoned as unemployment climbed by 1972 (the so-called "U-Turn"). From this point on, the economy was inflated in an attempt to bring unemployment down, resulting in the so-called "Barber Boom". The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... Iain Norman Macleod, PC (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Heath did attempt to reform the increasingly militant trade unions, unions which had managed until then to avoid reforms under preceding Labour and Tory governments. His Industrial Relations Act set up a special court under the judge Lord Donaldson, whose imprisonment of striking dockworkers was a public relations disaster which the Thatcher Government of the 1980s was to take pains to avoid, relying instead on confiscating the assets of unions found to have broken the law. Heath's attempt to confront trade-union power only resulted in an unwinnable pitched political battle, hobbled as the government was by the country's galloping inflation and high unemployment rate. Especially damaging to the government's credibility was a confrontation with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), from which the union emerged victorious. Energy shortages infamously resulted in much of the country's industry working a three-day week in an attempt to conserve energy. The resulting breakdown of domestic consensus contributed to the eventual downfall of his government. A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... The National Union of Mineworkers is a trade union for coal miners in the United Kingdom. ... The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970-1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners. ...

Heath's government did little to curtail welfare spending, yet at one point the squeeze in the education budget resulted in Margaret Thatcher, then Secretary of State for Education and Science, acting on the late Iain Macleod's wishes, further extending the restrictions (begun by the preceding Labour Government), upon free school milk removing it from 8 to 11 year olds. For this the tabloid press christened her "Thatcher the Milk Snatcher". ^[5] She did however succeed in blocking Macleod's other posthumous Education policy of abolishing the Open University recently founded by the preceding Labour Government. ^[6] Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ... Affiliations Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Website http://www. ...

Heath's Government passed the 1972 Local Government Act, which changed the boundaries of England's counties and created "Metropolitan Counties" around the major cities (e.g. Merseyside around Liverpool); this caused a significant amount of anger from sections of the public and is still not fully embraced to this day. In some cases local pressure has since caused the boundary changes to be reversed, e.g. Weston-Super-Mare has ceased to be part of the newly-formed Avon (i.e. Greater Bristol) and is now once again part of Somerset. However, Heath did not divide England into regions, choosing instead to await the report of the Crowther Commission on the constitution; the ten Government Office Regions were eventually set up by the Major government in 1994. The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ...

Along with the changing of the "historic" (in fact they had been revised as recently as 1889) county boundaries, another reform implemented by the Heath Government added to an uneasy feeling of change: the decimalisation of British coinage, begun under the previous Labour Government, was completed eight months after he came to power. Old pence (known as "d" for denarii) were abolished, with one "silver" shilling being equal to five "New Pence" (Shilling and Two Shilling coins would remain in circulation as 5p and 10p until the early 1990s). A special edition of the relatively new 50p coin (introduced in 1969) showed a circle of linked hands to commemorate British entry into the Common Market. The acceleration of inflation made this change seem even more unsettling. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Foreign policy

Edward Heath took the United Kingdom into the European Community in 1973. In October 1973 he placed a British arms embargo on all combatants in the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war; that mainly affected the Israelis in obtaining spares for the Centurion tank. He also officially recognised the People's Republic of China in 1972, visited Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1974 and 1975 and remained an honoured guest in China on frequent visits thereafter. Heath also maintained a good relationship with U.S. President Richard Nixon. The European Community (EC) was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... Combatants  Israel  Egypt,  Syria,  Iraq Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly Fahmy, Anwar Sadat, Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy, Abdul Munim... The Centurion was the primary British Main Battle Tank of the immediate post-war era, and considered by many to be one of the best British tank designs of all time. ... Mao redirects here. ... Peking redirects here. ... Nixon redirects here. ...

Heath depicted in a political cartoon as a British colonial in conflict with the Irish in Northern Ireland.

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x820, 563 KB) A political cartoon drawn by Duncan Macpherson in 1972. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x820, 563 KB) A political cartoon drawn by Duncan Macpherson in 1972. ... This early political cartoon by Ben Franklin was originally written for the French and Indian War, but was later recycled during the Revolutionary War An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message. ...

Ireland

Heath governed during the bloodiest period in the history of the Northern Ireland Troubles. He was prime minister at the time of Bloody Sunday in 1972 when 14 unarmed men were killed by British soldiers during an illegal march in Derry. (In 2003, he gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry and stated that he never sanctioned unlawful lethal force in Northern Ireland.) In July 1972, he permitted his Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw to hold unofficial talks in London with a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) delegation by Seán Mac Stiofáin. In the aftermath of these unsuccessful talks, the Heath government pushed for a peaceful settlement with the democratic political parties. This article is about the constituent country. ... The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ... // The Bogside area viewed from the city walls Bloody Sunday (Irish: Domhnach na Fola) is the term used to describe an incident in Derry[1], Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment... For other places with similar names, see Derry (disambiguation) and Londonderry (disambiguation). ... The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the British cabinet minister who has responsibility for the government of Northern Ireland. ... William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 - July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA.[2]) is an Irish Republican, left wing[3] paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern... Seán Mac Stiofáin (17 February 1928- 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the Provisional IRA. // Childhood Although he used the Gaelicised version of his name in later life, Mac Stiofáin was born an only child as John Edward Drayton Stephenson...

The 1973 Sunningdale Agreement was strongly repudiated by many Unionists and the Ulster Unionist Party soon ceased to support the Conservative party at Westminster. This breakdown in co-operation largely accounted for Heath's eventual electoral defeat in 1974. The Sunningdale Agreement on December 9, 1973, was an attempt to end the Northern Ireland troubles by forcing unionists to share power with nationalists. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party) is a moderate unionist political party in Northern Ireland. ...

Heath was targeted by the IRA for introducing 'Internment' in Northern Ireland. In December 1974 the Balcombe Street ASU threw a bomb on to the first-floor balcony of his home in Wilton Street, Belgravia where it exploded. Heath had been conducting a Christmas carol concert in his constituency at Broadstairs, Kent, and arrived home 10 minutes after the bomb exploded. No one was injured in the attack, but a landscape portrait painted by Winston Churchill — given to Heath as a present — was damaged. ^[7] The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the London Metropolitan Police lasting from December 6 to December 12, 1975. ... Active Service Unit (ASU) were Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cells of between 5-8 members tasked with carrying out armed attacks. ... Belgravia is a district in the City of Westminster in London, to the south-west of Buckingham Palace. ... , Broadstairs is a coastal town on The Isle Of Thanet in East Kent, England, 76 miles east of London with excellent and first class road links (1 hour from the M25) with a population of about 22,000. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ...

Fall from power

1974 general elections

A seven-week miners' strike in 1974 helped bring down the Conservative Government and cost Edward Heath the party leadership. ^[8]

Heath tried to bolster his government by calling a general election for 28 February 1974. The result was inconclusive: the Conservative Party won a plurality in terms of votes cast but the Labour Party won a plurality in terms of seats, with Ulster Unionist MPs refusing to support the Conservatives. Heath then began coalition negotiations with leaders of the Liberal Party, but, when these failed, on 4 March 1974, he resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by Harold Wilson and a minority Labour government. Wilson was eventually confirmed with a wafer-thin majority in a second election in October of the same year. In the second 1974 general election, Heath called for an all party "National Government". is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... The UK general election of October 1974 took place on October 10, 1974. ... In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties. ...

It was around this time that The Centre for Policy Studies, a Conservative discussion group with close spiritual ties to the 1970 Selsdon document, began to formulate a monetarist and free-market diagnosis of the failures of Heath's government. Initially the group was spearheaded by Sir Keith Joseph. Although Margaret Thatcher was associated with the CPS, she was initially seen as a potential moderate go-between by Heath's lieutenant, James Prior. The Centre for Policy Studies is a United Kingdom-based think tank. ... Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH , PC (17 January 1918–10 December 1994) was a British barrister, politician, and Conservative Cabinet Minister under three different Ministries. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, PC, is a British politician, and was Conservative MP for Lowestoft and Waveney. ...

The rise of Thatcher

With the Conservative Party losing three out of four general elections by 1974 under his leadership, Heath came to be seen as a liability by many Conservative MPs, party activists, and sympathetic newspaper editors. Among the wider electorate he attracted more sympathy, partly because of public statements he had made hinting at his willingness to consider the idea of serving in a government of national unity.

Heath resolved to remain Conservative leader and at first it appeared that by calling on the loyalty of his front bench colleagues he might prevail. At the time the Conservative leadership rules allowed for an election to fill a vacancy but contained no provision for a sitting leader to either seek a fresh mandate or be challenged. In late 1974, Heath came under tremendous pressure to concede a review of the rules.

It was agreed to establish a commission to propose changes in the election rules, and to have Heath put himself up for election under the new guidelines. Initially he expected to be comfortably re-elected, for there was no clear challenger to him after Enoch Powell had left the party and Keith Joseph had ruled himself out following controversial statements implying that the working classes should be encouraged to use more birth control. However Joseph's close friend and ally Margaret Thatcher, who believed an adherent to CPS philosophy should run, joined the leadership contest in his place, alongside the outsider Hugh Fraser. ^[9] Aided in this by the determined campaigning amongst back-bench MPs of Airey Neave - whose earlier approach to William Whitelaw had been rebuffed out of loyalty to Heath - she emerged as the only serious challenger. ^[10] John Enoch Powell, MBE (June 16, 1912 – February 8, 1998) was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet. ... Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH , PC (17 January 1918–10 December 1994) was a British barrister, politician, and Conservative Cabinet Minister under three different Ministries. ... Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, DSO, OBE, MC, (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, barrister and politician. ... William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 - July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician. ...

As the rules of the leadership contest permitted new candidates to enter the fray in a second round of voting should the leader not be confirmed by a large enough majority in the first, Thatcher's challenge was considered by some to be that of a stalking horse. Heath himself blamed his defeat on the "cunning" of Neave in deliberately understating her support in order to attract wavering votes ^[11]. In the end, Heath lost on the first ballot, 119 to 130 votes, (Fraser 16) on 4 February 1975. Heath then withdrew from the contest and his favoured candidate William Whitelaw lost to Thatcher in the second vote one week later, 146 to 79. (Howe 19, Prior 19, Peyton 11) Look up Stalking horse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 - July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician. ...

The new leader Margaret Thatcher visited him at his flat; accounts differ as to whether she offered him a place in her Shadow Cabinet - by some accounts she was detained for coffee by a colleague so that the waiting press would not realise how brief the meeting had been. Heath himself claimed that he had already informed her that he did not want a Shadow Cabinet place, and the purpose of her visit was simply to seek his advice as to how to handle the press. Nonetheless, after the 1979 general election, he nursed hopes of being appointed Foreign Secretary. Instead he was offered, and declined, the post of British Ambassador to the United States. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 and is regarded as a pivotal point in 20th century British politics. ... The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of Britains diplomatic mission to the USA. His official title is Her Majestys Ambassador to the United States of America. ...

After the Leadership

Heath remained bitter over his defeat and was persistent in his criticisms of the party's new ideological direction for many years. He never forgave Margaret Thatcher for challenging and replacing him as leader of the Conservatives and would refer to her as 'That woman'. At the time of his defeat he was still popular with rank and file Conservative members, and was warmly applauded at the 1975 Party Conference, facts which were used after 1997 as an argument against giving Party members too large a say in the election of the Party Leader (usually as a retort to the argument that ordinary members supported Mrs Thatcher when she was in turn ousted in 1990). He continued to be seen as a figurehead by some on the left of the party up to the time of the 1981 Conservative Party conference, at which he openly criticised the government's economic policies.

Heath played a leading role in the 1975 referendum campaign, in which Britain voted to remain part of the EEC. He also remained active on the international stage, serving on the Brandt Commission investigation into developmental issues, particularly on the North-South projects. In 1990 he flew to Baghdad to attempt to negotiate the release of British aircraft passengers taken hostage when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. After Black Wednesday in 1992 he called in the House of Commons for governments to build up a fund of reserves to defeat what he called currency "speculators". Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq and Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council from 1979 until his overthrow by US forces in 2003. ... In British politics and economics, Black Wednesday refers to 16 September 1992 when the Conservative government was forced to withdraw the pound from currency fix, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) after they were unable to keep Sterling above its agreed lower limit when currency markets believed the policy was... Type Lower House Speaker Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Leader Harriet Harman, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader Theresa May, (Conservative) since May 5, 2005 Members 659 Political groups Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Democratic Unionist Party Sinn Féin...

In the 1960s Heath had lived at a flat in the Albany, off Piccadilly; at the unexpected end of his premiership he was left homeless and had to take over the flat of a Conservative MP Tim Kitson for some months. In February 1985, Heath moved to Salisbury, where he resided until his death. Sir Timothy Peter Geoffrey Kitson (born 28 Jan 1931) is a British Conservative politician who was Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire. ... This article is about the city in the United Kingdom. ...

In 1987 Heath was nominated in the election for the Chancellorship of the University of Oxford but came third, behind Roy Jenkins and Lord Blake. Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, OM, PC (November 11, 1920 – January 5, 2003) was a British politician and a prominent Labour Member of Parliament in the 1960s and 1970s, and founding member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). ... Robert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake (December 23, 1916 - September 20, 2003) was an English historian, best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. ...

Heath continued to serve as a backbench MP for the London constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup until retiring from Parliament at the 2001 general election, by which time he had been created a Knight of the Garter and was, from 1992, the longest-serving MP and "Father of the House", as well as the oldest sitting British MP. As Father of the House, he oversaw the election of two Speakers of the Commons, Betty Boothroyd and Michael Martin. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Old Bexley and Sidcup is a UK parliamentary constituency situated wholly within the London Borough of Bexley. ... Tony Blair William Hague Charles Kennedy The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed the quiet landslide by the media. ... A garter is one of the Orders most recognisable insignia. ... Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. ... It has been suggested that Speakers of the House be merged into this article or section. ... Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC (born October 8, 1929 in Dewsbury, England), is a British politician and was the first female Speaker of the House of Commons. ... Michael John Martin MP (born 3 July 1945) is the current Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. ...

Parliament broke with precedent by commissioning a bust of Heath while he was still alive. ^[12] The 1993 bronze work, by Martin Jennings, was moved to the Members' Lobby in 2002. Bust of Richard Bently by Roubiliac A bust is a sculpture depicting a persons chest, shoulders, and head, usually supported by a stand. ... Margaret Thatcher unveils a statue of herself in the Members Lobby of the House of Commons The Members Lobby is a hallway in the Palace of Westminster used by members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

Death

Edward Heath's monument in Salisbury Cathedral.

In August 2003, at the age of 87, Heath suffered a pulmonary embolism while on holiday in Salzburg, Austria. He never fully recovered, and due to his declining health and mobility made very few public appearances in the final two years of his life. Sir Edward Heath died from pneumonia at 19:30 on the evening of 17 July 2005, at the age of 89. He was cremated on 25 July 2005 at a funeral service with fifteen hundred people present. As a tribute, the day after his death the BBC Parliament channel showed the BBC coverage of the 1970 election. A memorial service was held for Heath in Westminster Abbey on 8 November 2005 which was attended by two thousand people. Three days later his ashes were interred in Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds by John Constable c. ... This article is about the capital of the Austrian state of Salzburg. ... This article is about human pneumonia. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the British House of Commons and House of Lords, Select Committees, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and occasionally from the General Synod of the Church of England. ... The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds by John Constable c. ...

In January 2006, it was announced that Heath had left £5 million in his will, most of it to a charitable foundation to conserve his eighteenth-century house, Arundells, next to Salisbury Cathedral. As he had no descendants, he left only two legacies: to his brother's widow (£20,000); and to his housekeeper (£2500). ^[13]

Arundells

The house where Sir Edward Heath used to live in Salisbury, opposite the Cathedral, is opened to the public for guided tours from March to September. The house preserves a large collection of personal artefacts as well as his personal library, photo collections and Winston Churchill paintings. Details of openings are on the Arundells website, arundells.org.

Personal life

Yachting

Heath was a keen yachtsman. He bought his first yacht Morning Cloud in 1969 and won the Sydney to Hobart race that year. He captained Britain's winning team for the Admiral's Cup in 1971 — while Prime Minister — and also captained the team in the 1979 Fastnet race.He was a member of the Sailing Club in his home town Broadstairs. This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day) and finishes in Hobart. ... The Admirals Cup is a yachting race series in the United Kingdom. ... Storms during the 1979 Fastnet race wrought havoc on over 306 yachts taking part in the biennial race, resulting in 19 fatalities. ... , Broadstairs is a coastal town on The Isle Of Thanet in East Kent, England, 76 miles east of London with excellent and first class road links (1 hour from the M25) with a population of about 22,000. ...

Prime Minister conducting the LSO in Elgar's Cockaigne

Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. ...

Conductor

Heath also maintained a keen interest in orchestral music as an organist and conductor, famously installing a Steinway grand in 10 Downing Street — bought with his £450 Charlemagne Prize money, awarded for his efforts to bring Britain into the EEC in 1973, and chosen on the advice of his friend, the pianist Moura Lympany — and conducting Christmas carol concerts in Broadstairs, Kent every year from his teens until old age. Steinway & Sons is a piano manufacturing firm, currently based in New York and Hamburg, Germany. ... Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney stand in front of the famous main door to Number 10. ... Bill Clinton received the Karlspreis in 2000. ... Dame Moura Lympany DBE (August 18, 1915 - March 28, 2005) was an English concert pianist. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... , Broadstairs is a coastal town on The Isle Of Thanet in East Kent, England, 76 miles east of London with excellent and first class road links (1 hour from the M25) with a population of about 22,000. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ...

Heath conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, notably at a gala concert at the Festival Hall in November 1971, at which he conducted Elgar's Cockaigne (In London Town), as pictured at right. He also conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Germany and the U.S. Heath received honorary degrees from the Royal College of Music and Royal College of Organists. During his premiership, Heath invited musician friends, such as Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus Quartet, to perform either at Chequers or Downing Street. The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... The Royal Festival Hall reopening celebrations The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. ... Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. ... The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the UKs longest established orchestras, and is based in Liverpool. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... The front facade of the Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM), located in the South Kensington district of London, is one of the worlds leading musical institutions. ... The Royal College of Organists or RCO, based in Birmingham, England, is the United Kingdoms national body charged with promoting organ and choral music and overseeing musical education and training for organists and choral directors. ... Sir Clifford Michael Curzon (May 18, 1907 - September 1, 1982) was a celebrated English pianist. ...

Performing arts

Heath enjoyed the performing arts as a whole. In particular, he gave a great deal of support to performing arts causes in his constituency and was known to be proud of the fact that his constituency boasted two of the country's leading performing arts schools. Rose Bruford College and Bird College are both situated in Sidcup, and a purpose built facility for the latter was officially opened by Heath in 1979. Lamorbey House Rose Bruford College is a prestigious British drama school, offering professional vocational training for the performing arts to BA and MA level. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Author

He wrote three non-political books, Sailing, Music, and Travels, and an autobiography, The Course of My Life (1998). The latter took 14 years to produce; Heath's obituary in the Daily Telegraph alleged that he never paid many of the ghost-writers.

Sexuality

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Heath was a lifelong bachelor and is not known ever to have had any sexual relationship, although Michael Palin claimed, perhaps not altogether seriously, that Heath was involved for a small time with fellow comedian, Graham Chapman. Heath's interest in music kept him on friendly terms with a number of female musicians including the pianist Moura Lympany, and he always had the company of women when social circumstances required. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Michael Edward Palin, CBE (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. ... Dr. Graham Arthur Chapman (January 8, 1941 – October 4, 1989) was an English comedian, actor, writer, physician and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. ... Dame Moura Lympany DBE (August 18, 1915 - March 28, 2005) was an English concert pianist. ...

John Campbell, who published a biography of Heath in 1993, devoted four pages to a discussion of the evidence concerning Heath's sexuality. Whilst acknowledging that Heath was often assumed by the public to be gay, not least because it is "nowadays... whispered of any single man" he found "no evidence whatsoever" that this was actually so "except for the faintest unsubstantiated rumour" (the footnote refers to a mention of a "disturbing incident" at the beginning of the war in a 1972 biography by Andrew Roth).^[14] Campbell also points out that Heath was at least as likely to be a repressed heterosexual (given his awkwardness with women) or "simply asexual". Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Andrew Roth (born April 23, 1919, NYC) is an American journalist. ...

Heath had been expected to marry childhood friend Kay Raven, who reportedly tired of waiting and married an RAF officer whom she met on holiday in 1950. In a terse four-sentence paragraph of his memoirs, Heath claimed that he had been too busy establishing a career after the war and had "perhaps... taken too much for granted". In a 1998 TV interview with Michael Cockerell Heath admitted that he had kept her photograph in his flat for many years afterwards.

After Heath's death, gay rights campaigner and Conservative London Assembly member Brian Coleman suggested in 2007 that the former Prime Minister was a homosexual. Coleman, writing on the website of the New Statesman on the issue of 'outing', said: "The late Ted Heath managed to obtain the highest office of state after he was supposedly advised to cease his cottaging activities in the 1950s when he became a privy councillor." ^[15][16] The claim was dismissed by MP Sir Peter Tapsell, ^[17] and Heath's friend and MP Derek Conway stated that "if there was some secret I’m sure it would be out by now". ^[18] The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... The London Assembly is an elected body that supervises the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. ... Brian Coleman (born 25 June 1961) is a thin-skinned Conservative Party politician and member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, England. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... While outing often refers to an outdoor excursion, in the late twentieth century the term acquired an additional meaning: taking someone out of the closet - that is, publicising that someone is gay. ... This article is about the sexual behavior. ... This article concerns the British Sovereigns Privy Council. ... Sir Peter Hannay Bailey Tapsell (born 1 February 1930, Hove) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the British politician. ...

Titles from birth

• Edward Heath, Esq (9 July 1916–1992)
• Lieutenant Colonel Edward Heath (1945)
• Lieutenant Colonel Edward Heath, MBE (1946)
• Edward Heath, Esq, MBE (?-23 February 1950)
• Edward Heath, Esq, MBE, MP (23 February 1950–1955)
• The Right Honourable Edward Heath, MBE, MP (1955–24 April 1992)
• The Right Honourable Sir Edward Heath, KG, MBE, MP (24 April 1992–7 June 2001)
• The Right Honourable Sir Edward Heath, KG, MBE (7 June 2001– 17 July 2005)

is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 158th day of the year (159th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 158th day of the year (159th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Nicknames

Heath was persistently referred to as "The Grocer", or "Grocer Heath" by magazine Private Eye after he negotiated for Britain at a Common Market food prices conference in November 1962. The nickname was used periodically, but became a permanent fixture in the magazine after he fought the 1970 General Election on a promise to reduce the price of groceries. March 4, 2005 cover of Private Eye; this is a typical example of the magazines front cover. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ...

Edward Heath's Government (June 1970 – March 1974)

• Prime Minister: Edward Heath
• Lord Chancellor: Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
• Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons: William Whitelaw
• Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords: Lord Jellicoe
• Chancellor of the Exchequer: Iain Macleod
• Foreign Secretary: Alec Douglas-Home
• Home Secretary: Reginald Maudling
• Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: James Prior
• Secretary of State for Defence: Lord Carrington
• Secretary of State for Education and Science: Margaret Thatcher
• Secretary of State for Employment: Robert Carr
• Minister of Housing and Local Government: Peter Walker
• Secretary of State for Health and Social Security: Keith Joseph
• Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Anthony Barber
• Secretary of State for Scotland: Gordon Campbell
• Secretary of State for Technology: Geoffrey Rippon
• President of the Board of Trade: Michael Noble
• Secretary of State for Wales: Peter Thomas

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and prior to the Union the Chancellor of England and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom, and its predecessor states. ... Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950–1963), was a British judge and Conservative politician. ... The Office of Lord President of the Council is a British cabinet position, the holder of which acts as presiding officer of the Privy Council. ... The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. ... William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 - July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician. ... The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC (born April 4, 1918), is the longest serving member of the House of Lords, having succeeded his father as Earl Jellicoe in 1935 and come of age and taken his seat in 1939. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... Iain Norman Macleod, PC (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. ... The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (commonly referred to as Foreign Secretary) is a member of the British Government responsible for relations with foreign countries, heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (often called simply the Foreign Office). ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Rt. ... The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. ... James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, PC, is a British politician, and was Conservative MP for Lowestoft and Waveney. ... The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ... Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, KG, GCMG, CH, MC, PC, JP, DL (born June 6, 1919), was British Foreign Secretary (1979–1982) and Secretary-General of NATO (1984–1988). ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... Minister of Labour re-directs here. ... The Rt. ... Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE PC (born March 25, 1932) was Conservative MP for Worcester between March 1961 and April 1992, and the founder of the Tory Reform Group. ... The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a position in the UK cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. ... Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH , PC (17 January 1918–10 December 1994) was a British barrister, politician, and Conservative Cabinet Minister under three different Ministries. ... The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a sinecure office in the British government. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, PC (4 July 1920 - 16 December 2005), was a Conservative member of the House of Lords. ... The Secretary of State for Scotland (Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is the chief minister in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilites for Scotland, at the head of the Scotland Office (formerly The Scottish Office). ... Gordon Thomas Calthrop Campbell, Baron Campbell of Croy, PC, (June 8, 1921-) was a British Conservative politician. ... (Aubrey) Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, (May 28, 1924- 28 Jan 1997) was a British Conservative politician. ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... Michael Antony Cristobal Noble, Baron Glenkinglas, PC (19 March 1913 - 15 May 1984) was a Scottish Tory politician. ... The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the United Kingdom cabinet. ... Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir, PC, QC (born July 31, 1920) is a Welsh Conservative politician, now retired. ...

Changes

• July 1970 — Iain Macleod dies, and is succeeded as Chancellor by Anthony Barber. Geoffrey Rippon succeeds Barber as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. John Davies succeeds Rippon as Secretary for Technology.
• October 1970 — The Ministry of Technology and the Board of Trade are merged to become the Department of Trade and Industry. John Davies becomes Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Michael Noble leaves the cabinet. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government is succeeded by the new department of the Environment which was headed by Peter Walker.
• March 1972 — Robert Carr succeeds William Whitelaw as Lord President and Leader of the House of Commons. Maurice Macmillan succeeds Carr as Secretary for Employment. Whitelaw becomes Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
• July 1972 — Robert Carr succeeds Reginald Maudling as Home Secretary. James Prior succeeds Robert Carr as Lord President and Leader of the House of Commons. Joseph Godber succeeds Prior as Secretary for Agriculture.
• November 1972 — Geoffrey Rippon succeeds Peter Walker as Secretary for the Environment. John Davies succeeds Rippon as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Peter Walker succeeds Davies as Secretary for Trade and Industry. Geoffrey Howe becomes Minister for Trade and Consumer Affairs with a seat in the cabinet.
• June 1973 — Lord Windlesham succeeds Lord Jellicoe as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords.
• December 1973 — William Whitelaw succeeds Maurice Macmillan as Secretary for Employment. Francis Pym succeeds Whitelaw as Secretary for Northern Ireland. Macmillan becomes Paymaster-General.
• January 1974 — Ian Gilmour succeeds Lord Carrington as Secretary for Defence; Lord Carrington becomes Secretary of State for Energy.

The Right Honourable John Emerson Harding Davies MBE (January 8, 1916 – July 4, 1979) was a successful British businessman who served as Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry during the 1960s. ... The Department of Trade and Industry is a United Kingdom government department. ... The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... The Right Honourable Maurice Victor Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (27 January 1921–10 March 1984) was a Conservative politician and Member of Parliament. ... Joseph Bradshaw Godber, Baron Godber of Willington PC (17 March 1914–25 August 1980) was a British Conservative politician and cabinet minister. ... Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, PC, QC (born 20 December 1926), known until 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, is a senior British Conservative politician. ... The Right Honourable Sir David James George Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham, Bt, CVO, PC (born 28 January 1932) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and currently holds visiting professorships at various universities. ... Popular conservative British politician Francis Pym, during his Cambridge years Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, MC and Bar, PC (born 13 February 1922) is a British Conservative Party politician and former member of the Cabinet. ... The Right Honourable Sir Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, 3rd Bt. ... The Secretary of State for Energy was a UK cabinet position from 1974 to 1992. ...

Political offices

There have been at least three notable people called William Wilkins: William Wilkins, (1778-1839), British architect and archeologist William Wilkins, (1779-1865), American lawyer, U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania, Secretary of War William A. Wilkins, (fl. ... In the United Kingdom, there are at least six Lords of the Treasury who serve concurrently. ... Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, Baron Hailes (April 2, 1901-November 5, 1974) was the first and only Governor-General of the short-lived West Indies Federation, from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962, when the country was disbanded. ... This article is about various offices in the government of the United Kingdom. ... The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... Martin Redmayne, Baron Redmayne, DSO, TD, PC (16 November 1910 – 28 April 1983) was a British Conservative politician. ... Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950–1963), was a British judge and Conservative politician. ... The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd (28 July 1904 - 18 May 1978), known for most of his career as Selwyn Lloyd, was a British Conservative politician. ... Frederick James Erroll President of the Board of Trade 9 October 1961 - 20 October 1963) ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, Baron Jay, PC (23 March 1907 – 6 March 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... The Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Her Majestys Loyal Opposition (the body in Parliament recognized as the Official Opposition). ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... The Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Her Majestys Loyal Opposition (the body in Parliament recognized as the Official Opposition). ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin MP Speaker of the House of Lords Hélène Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Democratic Unionist... Sir (Ernest) Ashley Bramall (January 6, 1916 – February 10, 1999) was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority for 11 years. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of South-East London. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Sidcup was a parliamentary constituency centred on Sidcup, an outer suburb of London in the London Borough of Bexley. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Old Bexley and Sidcup is a UK parliamentary constituency situated wholly within the London Borough of Bexley. ... This article is about the British politician. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel,[1] KT, PC (2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995) 14th Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British Conservative (actually SUP) politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October... The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... Sir Bernard Braine, Lord Braine of Wheatley (June 21, 1914 - January 5, United Kingdom. ... Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. ... Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns, 11th Baronet (born 9 August 1932), more commonly known as Tam Dalyell (pronounced ), is a Scottish politician and was a Labour member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. ... For other persons named Michael Foot, see Michael Foot (disambiguation). ... // see also: Baby of the House Of those whose age can be verified, the youngest MP since the Reform Act 1832[1] was Esmond Harmsworth, elected on 15 November 1919 from Isle of Thanet aged 21 years 170 days. ... Piara Singh Khabra (20 November 1921[1] – 19 June 2007) was a British politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall from 1992 until his death. ... Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ...

Honorary degrees

• University of Calgary 7 June 1991 (LL.D) [1] [2]
• University of Wales (LL.D) 1998 [3]
• University of Greenwich (LL.D) 18 July 2001 [4]

Arch marking south entrance to campus during the winter. ... is the 158th day of the year (159th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar. ... Doctor of Laws (Latin: Legum Doctor, LL.D) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. ... The University of Wales (Prifysgol Cymru in Welsh) is a federal university founded in 1893. ... Doctor of Laws (Latin: Legum Doctor, LL.D) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. ... Statue of George II in the Grand Square of the University, with the dome above the Chapel entrance to the left. ... Doctor of Laws (Latin: Legum Doctor, LL.D) is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

References

Books:

• Heath, Edward. Sailing: A Course of My Life. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1975.
• Heath, Edward. Music: A Joy for Life. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1976.
• Heath, Edward. Travels: People and Places in My Life. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1977.
• Heath, Edward. The Course of My Life. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1998.

Biographies:

• Ball, Stuart & Seldon, Anthony (editors). The Heath Government: 1970-1974: A Reappraisal. London: Longman, 1996.
• Campbell, John. Edward Heath: A Biography. London: Jonathan Cape, 1993.
• Holmes, Martin. The Failure of the Heath Government. Basingstoke: Longman, 1997.

Footnotes

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Edward Heath

• The Guardian Obituary
• Heath, Edward Chronology
• More about Edward Heath on the Downing Street website.
• [5] Sir Edward Heath's home open to the public Easter - September

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