Edward Heath: The Authorised Biography

Edward Heath: The Authorised Biography
Philip Ziegler

The magisterial official life of Britain's complex and misunderstood former prime minister, which offers a fundamental reassessment of his reputation.Edward Heath was at the centre of British political life for much of the second half of the twentieth century. Entering the House of Commons in 1950, he served as a whip and a minister before becoming Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974. But today he is largely a forgotten figure, eclipsed by his more celebrated successor, Margaret Thatcher.In this masterly official biography, distinguished historian Philip Ziegler offers a timely reassessment of Heath's remarkable political career. With exclusive access to personal papers unavailable to previous biographers he presents the first fully rounded portrait of our most enigmatic former prime minister.Beginning with Heath's early years - his childhood in Kent, student days in pre-war Oxford, wartime military service and short business career before he immersed himself in politics - Ziegler goes on to chart Heath's effortless rise through the ranks of the Conservative Party. He brilliantly captures Heath's rivalry with Harold Wilson and the supreme drama of 1974 - the year of two elections and a hung parliament - with its uncanny parallels for our own times.Politics consumed Heath's life but he nonetheless found time for other pursuits, becoming an accomplished conductor and an internationally successful yachtsman. The book explores Heath's endlessly fascinating personality and casts fresh light on the financial affairs and private life of this most complex of political leaders.Heath's later years were blighted by the 'long sulk', as he failed to come to terms with losing the leadership to Margaret Thatcher. But this should not disguise his considerable achievements. He helped to transform the Conservative Party, and by securing Britain's historic entry into Europe, the high point of his career, he arguably changed the lives of the British people more fundamentally than any prime minister since Winston Churchill

Edward Heath

The Authorised Biography

Philip Ziegler

To Clare

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#ua8d34a7c-1849-51be-bf78-7b24d0ced7c9)

Title Page (#u9b3559cd-6ed3-5495-bdb0-a37ddfbc3c7b)

FOREWORD (#u19e7d238-cad1-504d-9fb7-e02cfe52af2a)

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT (#ub5402421-165c-501d-941c-5581867e0804)

ONE The Child and the Boy (#u68b2e174-cb13-50d9-bf1a-ae058b6a21e7)

TWO Balliol (#uc6225a06-116b-525d-9f1d-dd782f41161e)

THREE War (#ufcd8e1a3-8493-5eeb-ad8a-9cd363d66e59)

FOUR In Waiting for Westminster (#u28e83aca-31e6-50a7-ab2b-60c735b2f7d6)

FIVE The Young Member (#u215832cc-e548-5830-9098-a001563b9f14)

SIX Chief Whip (#u67da1630-6a9c-5636-a6c0-68cc7398f075)

SEVEN Europe: The First Round (#u95f9c8ea-783a-5bbb-a26e-847fea7097d1)

EIGHT Minister (#uf9f22482-90cb-514f-85c9-0cf3d0a04500)

NINE Leader of the Opposition (#litres_trial_promo)

TEN Problems with the Party (#litres_trial_promo)

ELEVEN Victory (#litres_trial_promo)

TWELVE Making a Ministry (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTEEN The Pains of Office (#litres_trial_promo)

FOURTEEN Europe: The Second Round (#litres_trial_promo)

FIFTEEN Ulster (#litres_trial_promo)

SIXTEEN Choppy Water (#litres_trial_promo)

SEVENTEEN The Approaching Storm (#litres_trial_promo)

EIGHTEEN Foreign Affairs (#litres_trial_promo)

NINETEEN Hurricane (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY Defeat on Points (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-ONE The Uneasy Truce (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-TWO Defeat by Knockout (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-THREE Adjusting to a New Life (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FOUR The Long Sulk (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FIVE Phased Retreat (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SIX Filling in Time (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SEVEN Declining Years (#litres_trial_promo)

NOTES (#litres_trial_promo)

SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY (#litres_trial_promo)

INDEX (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

FOREWORD (#ulink_9f7c791d-f6d7-5bd2-aea6-3fd0a6cd1879)

Edward Heath changed the lives of the British people more fundamentally than any prime minister since Winston Churchill. By forcing through the abolition of Resale Price Maintenance he cleared the way for the all-conquering march of the supermarket and transformed every high street in the country. By securing Britain’s entry into Europe he reversed almost a thousand years of history and embarked on a course that would inevitably lead to the legal, political, economic and social transformation of his country. Both these reforms he forced through by a combination of determination, patience and persuasive powers, against the inertia or active hostility of a large part of the British population, including many of his own party. There may have been others who could have done as much, there may have been others who desired to do so, but it is hard to conceive of any other individual in the second half of the twentieth century who would both have been able and have wished to achieve this transformation.

Yet Heath today is largely forgotten: a meaner beauty of the night eclipsed by the refulgent moon of Margaret Thatcher. This is because, in spite of all he did, he was seen by others, indeed portrayed himself, as a disgruntled loser. Lady Thatcher, though she too was shipwrecked in the end, is remembered as a winner. It is the winners who remain prominent in people’s minds. Heath brought it on himself, but the importance of his contribution to British history deserves greater attention. Opinions may differ as to whether what he did was right; the immensity of his achievement in doing it is open to no question.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT (#ulink_d63f8cd2-0044-502e-8a72-86dfc4b145e5)

ONE The Child and the Boy (#ulink_9952ae0a-5b3b-5cee-8fb3-611c9f157766)

Two future British prime ministers were born in 1916. Both belonged to what may loosely be called the lower-middle class and found their way by scholarships to grammar school and Oxford, where both were strikingly successful. Both served at one time in the civil service and took a precocious interest in politics. Both prided themselves on their knowledge of economics and were endowed by nature with prodigious memories. One was prime minister from October 1964 to June 1970 and from February 1974 to March 1976; the other occupied 10 Downing Street for the intervening years. In all other ways, few men can have been less similar than Harold Wilson and Edward Richard George Heath.