Edward Heath

:For the bandleader, see Ted Heath (bandleader).

Youth and parliament

Heath was the son of a carpenter and a maid from Broadstairs in Kent. He went to Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, and succeeded in the exam to get to Balliol College, Oxford. A talented musician, he had won an Organ Scholarship to support himself there. While at university he got involved in Conservative politics but unlike many Conservatives, was an active opponent of appeasement. He was elected as President of the Oxford Union in 1939 as an anti-appeasement candidate sponsored by Balliol.

Related Topics:
Broadstairs - Kent - Ramsgate - Balliol College - Oxford - Organ Scholarship - Appeasement - Oxford Union - 1939

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He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, and after demobilization in 1946 joined the Honourable Artillery Company where he rose to become the CO. He became a civil servant in the Ministry of Civil Aviation until he was elected as MP for Bexley in 1950 (defeating an old colleague from the Oxford Union, Ashley Bramall).

Related Topics:
Royal Artillery - World War II - 1946 - Honourable Artillery Company - CO - Civil servant - Bexley - 1950 - Ashley Bramall

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He was swiftly appointed as a Government Whip when the Conservatives won the 1951 election. In December 1955 he became Government Chief Whip. Because of the convention that Whips do not speak in Parliament, he 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 attitude of Conservative MPs to those choosing Eden's successor which was extremely favourable to Harold Macmillan and was instrumental in securing Macmillan the job. Macmillan made him Minister of Labour after the 1959 election.

Related Topics:
Government Whip - 1951 - 1955 - Suez Crisis - Anthony Eden - Harold Macmillan - 1959

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Heath was a fervent pro-European, believing in political as well as economic union. He was made Lord Privy Seal in 1960 with responsibility for the (ultimately unsuccessful) first round of negotiations to secure the UK's accession to the Common Market (as the European Community was then called). Under Sir Alec Douglas-Home he was President of the Board of Trade and oversaw the abolition of retail price maintenance.

Related Topics:
Pro-European - Lord Privy Seal - 1960 - Common Market - European Community - Alec Douglas-Home - President of the Board of Trade - Retail price maintenance

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After the Conservative Party lost the 1964 general election, Douglas-Home changed the rules to allow a ballot for party leader, and then resigned. Heath won the election in 1965, and became the youngest leader in the party's history. He retained the office despite defeat in the 1966 general election. The success of his party in the general election of 1970 surprised almost all contemporary commentators and was seen as a personal triumph.

Related Topics:
1964 - 1965 - 1966 - General election of 1970

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