Edward Heath: The Authorised Biography. Philip Ziegler

      

      Edward Heath

      The Authorised Biography

      Philip Ziegler

      

       To Clare

      Table of Contents

       Cover Page

       Title Page

FOREWORD

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT

ONE The Child and the Boy

TWO Balliol

THREE War

FOUR In Waiting for Westminster

FIVE The Young Member

SIX Chief Whip

SEVEN Europe: The First Round

EIGHT Minister

       NINE Leader of the Opposition

       TEN Problems with the Party

       ELEVEN Victory

       TWELVE Making a Ministry

       THIRTEEN The Pains of Office

       FOURTEEN Europe: The Second Round

       FIFTEEN Ulster

       SIXTEEN Choppy Water

       SEVENTEEN The Approaching Storm

       EIGHTEEN Foreign Affairs

       NINETEEN Hurricane

       TWENTY Defeat on Points

       TWENTY-ONE The Uneasy Truce

       TWENTY-TWO Defeat by Knockout

       TWENTY-THREE Adjusting to a New Life

       TWENTY-FOUR The Long Sulk

       TWENTY-FIVE Phased Retreat

       TWENTY-SIX Filling in Time

       TWENTY-SEVEN Declining Years

       NOTES

       SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

       INDEX

       Acknowledgements

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       FOREWORD

      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

ACAS	Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
ACP	Advisory Committee on Policy
AEU	Amalgamated Engineering Union
CBI	Confederation of British Industry
CPRS	Central Policy Review Staff
CPS	Centre for Policy Studies
DTI	Department of Trade and Industry
ECSC	European Coal and Steel Community
EEC	European Economic Community