History UsefulNotes / EdwardHeath

Heath might have had the most unfortunate premiership (at least until UsefulNotes/TheresaMay's) in British history. During his term, UsefulNotes/TheTroubles escalated in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland, particularly after the Bloody Sunday incident in January 1972. His attempts to mediate the conflict were unsuccessful, instead causing a split with his Ulster Unionist allies. He also had to contend with a period of economic decline inherited from Wilson, marked by unemployment hitting one million for the first time since the war, wildcat strikes, inflation, conflict with increasingly militant mining unions, property speculation and competitive decline, falling behind West Germany and France. Heath was also propense to be attacked with ink or paint. Not helping matters was his inability to 'reach' the average voter (he once referred to his voters as "[[PrecisionFStrike shits, bloody shits and f***ing shits]]"), especially in comparison to the deceptively charismatic Wilson. His middle-class background and moderate 'One Nation' stance made him not very popular in the party, which (under the influence of people including Enoch Powell, Keith Joseph, and UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher) was rapidly diverging from the post-war consensus.

As with Macmillan (and every subsequent Tory PM), his career at the top of British politics would be undone by [[UsefulNotes/WithEuropeButNotOfIt the "European question"]]. Heath claimed victory for British entry into the Economic Community (which was not endorsed by public referendum as it was in the other accession countries), a rather PyrrhicVictory considering that the public was indifferent at best,[[note]](contemporary polling showed that the British public probably would have rejected accession, which is why he didn't allow a referendum, which gave Wilson an opening to promise one in his 1974 manifesto)[[/note]] while the move was resisted by many of his [=MPs=] -- especially his bitter rival Powell, who never forgave Heath for kicking him out of the Shadow Cabinet after his "rivers of blood" speech in 1968. It's telling that none of Heath's successors at Number 10, Tory or Labour, was as openly Europhilic as he, excepting perhaps UsefulNotes/TonyBlair (and even he couldn't bring Britain into the Eurozone).

While his premiership coincided with Britain's [[DorkAge "sick man of Europe" period]], Heath's legacy has been revisited in a more positive light during the 21st century, with most of his political failures being considered to be aftereffects of Wilson's policy mistakes and the rest being chiefly due to [[PoorCommunicationKills communication problems]]. Many historians have also noted his tendency to stick to his guns, a trait that was slowly disappearing from Whitehall. Conversely, he's not too popular among traditional right-wing Tories, who look unkindly on his taking the country into Europe and often blame him for sowing the seeds that would lead to the move towards centrism decades later on UsefulNotes/DavidCameron's watch. With Britain's departure from the European Union in 2020 undoing his signature and crowning achievement, there is also some question as to his lasting legacy.

* "Taxman", the lead-off track on Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' album, name-checks both Heath and his rival, then-Prime Minister UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson.

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever KG MBE]] (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974, both succeeding and preceding UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson, and a pro-European Conservative.

His early career saw him as President of the Oxford Union (the University's debating society and a fairly frequent stepping stone on the road to Downing Street) and an opponent of UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain's appeasement policies towards UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler.

While his premiership coincided with Britain's [[DorkAge "sick man of Europe" period]], Heath's legacy has been revisited in a more positive light during the 21st century, with most of his political failures being considered to be aftereffects of Wilson's policy mistakes and the rest being chiefly due to [[PoorCommunicationKills communication problems]]. Many historians have also noted his tendency to stick to his guns, a trait that was slowly disappearing from Whitehall. Conversely, he's not too popular among traditional right-wing Tories, who look unkindly on his taking the country into Europe and often blame him for sowing the seeds that would lead to the move towards centrism decades later on UsefulNotes/DavidCameron's watch.

* The ''Creator/MorcambeAndWise'' 1971 ChristmasSpecial features orchestra conductor André Previn, tricked into appearing, thinking he'd be directing Yehudi Menuhin performing Music/FelixMendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Instead, he's offered to conduct Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto, but expresses doubt that Eric can perform it properly. Eric counters that "For an extra £4 we could've got Ted Heath!"

* The Christmas 1971 episode of ''Series/MorcambeAndWise'' features orchestra conductor Andre Previn, tricked into appearing, thinking he'd be directing Yehudi Menuhin performing Creator/FelixMendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Instead, he's offered to conduct Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto, but expresses doubt that Eric can perform it properly. Eric counters that "For an extra £4 we could've got Ted Heath!"

* Heath's grasp of the French language (decent vocabulary, poor pronunciation) is the direct inspiration for Crabtree's VerbalTic in ''Series/AlloAllo''.

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever KG MBE]] (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974, preceding and succeeding UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson, and a pro-European Conservative.

"Sailor Ted" as he was also known (other nicknames included "The Grocer" or "Grocer Heath", after negotiating for the UK at an European food prices conference) took Britain into the [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion EEC]], mainly because UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle wasn't around any more to stop him as he did with UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan and Wilson.

He fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and once had to organise a firing squad. Some Soviet leaders blew this incident out of proportion and thought he had been the "Political Officer". Before that, he traveled through Europe, attending the 1937 Nuremberg rally, where he met Hitler, Hermann Göring, and Heinrich Himmler ("the most evil man I have ever met"), visited a besieged Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, and went to Germany again in the summer of 1939 -- indeed, he had to cycle to Holland to return to the UK, crossing the border hours before it was closed.

In 1950, Heath was elected to Parliament for the first time. He ended up serving ''[[LongRunners 51 years]]'' in the House of Commons (MP for Bexley until February 1974, for one of its successor ridings, Sidcup, until 1983, and lastly for [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Old Bexley and Sidcup]]) until his retirement in 2001. His successor in that seat, Derek Conway, only spent nine years as he resigned following a scandal which essentially involved registering his relatives as employees and paying them for work they didn't do.

He became the first elected leader of his party in 1965. He led them to a loss in the 1966 election, but went on to an unexpected win in 1970, being mostly supported by housewives disgruntled with inflation. In his first year in office, he completed the transition from [[UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney the old pounds, shillings, and pence]] to decimal coinage.

Heath might have had the most unfortunate premiership in British history (at least until UsefulNotes/TheresaMay). During his term, UsefulNotes/TheTroubles escalated in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland, particularly after the Bloody Sunday incident in January 1972. His attempts to mediate the conflict were unsuccessful, instead causing a split with his Ulster Unionist allies. He also had to contend with a period of economic decline inherited from Wilson, marked by unemployment hitting one million for the first time since the war, wildcat strikes, inflation, conflict with increasingly militant mining unions, property speculation and competitive decline, falling behind West Germany and France. Heath was also propense to be attacked with ink or paint. Not helping matters was his inability to "reach" the average voter (he once referred to his voters as "[[PrecisionFStrike shits, bloody shits and f-ing shits]]"), especially in comparison to the deceptively charismatic Wilson. His middle-class background and moderate "One Nation" stance made him not very popular in the party, which (under the influence of people including Enoch Powell, Keith Joseph, and UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher) was rapidly diverging from the post-war consensus. As with Macmillan (and every subsequent Tory PM), his career at the top of British politics would be undone by [[UsefulNotes/WithEuropeButNotOfIt the "European question"]], claiming victory for British entry into the Economic Community (which was not endorsed by public referendum as it was in the other accession countries), a rather PyrrhicVictory considering that the public was indifferent at best,[[note]]Contemporary polling showed that the British public probably would have rejected accession, which is why he didn't allow a referendum, which gave Wilson an opening to promise one in his 1974 manifesto.[[/note]] while the move was resisted by many of his [=MPs=], especially his bitter rival Powell, who never forgave Heath for kicking him out of the Shadow Cabinet after his "rivers of blood" speech in 1968. It's telling that none of Heath's successors at Number 10, Tory or Labour, was as openly Europhilic as he, excepting perhaps UsefulNotes/TonyBlair (and even he couldn't bring Britain into the Eurozone).

In late 1973 his bad luck reached a peak as the miners went on strike again, just as OPEC enacted the oil embargo [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] the England team had failed to qualify for UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup. In response, Heath enacted the Three-Day Week -- homes were asked to reduce fuel consumption, most businesses were limited to using electricity just three days a week, and television networks had to sign off at 10.30 p.m. He also called an election for 28 February 1974, hoping to get a mandate to face down the strike. This instead resulted in a hung parliament wherein the Conservatives won the most votes, but Labour won the most seats. After Heath failed to strike a deal with Jeremy Thorpe's Liberals, UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson became PM once again. Heath is the most recent PM to enter office via a general election, by leading the party that won the most seats, and then leave office when another party won the most seats in an election.

While his premiership coincided with the [[DorkAge "sick man of Europe" period]], Heath's legacy has been revisited in a more positive light during the 21st century, with most of his political failures being considered to be aftereffects of Wilson's policy mistakes and the rest being chiefly due to [[PoorCommunicationKills communication problems]]. Many historians have also noted his tendency to stick to his guns, a trait that was slowly disappearing from Whitehall. Conversely, he's not too popular among traditional right-wing Tories, who look unkindly on his taking the country into Europe and often blame him for sowing the seeds that would lead to the move towards centrism decades later on UsefulNotes/DavidCameron's watch.

He never got on with UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, openly criticising her economic policies. She had served under him as Secretary of State for Education and Science and defeated him in the 1975 party leadership battle, for which he never forgave her. Instead of going to the House of Lords like almost all his immediate predecessors and successors as PM would, Heath remained in the House of Commons seemingly all the better to keep a baleful eye on Thatcher, glowering from the backbenches in a decades-long state of dudgeon nicknamed "The Longest Sulk in History". He would in fact remain in the Commons for over a decade after Thatcher lost the premiership (and only stood down nine years and two Parliaments after she did), ending up as Father of the House -- the MP with the longest continuous tenure.

Keen on sailing (as his nickname should imply), he was also a talented amateur musician responsible for the installation of a grand piano in Number 10 and conducted orchestras on few times.

He also never married, being the most recent Prime Minister to be a bachelor, and he was also the last childless PM until May.

'''In fiction:'''
* ''Magazine/PrivateEye''[='=]s particular Heath parody was "Heathco", in which Heath ran a grocery store. The fact that UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher's father was (actually) a grocer meant they had much fun pretending Thatcher was Heath's daughter (especially considering how the two didn't get along).

* ''Series/SpittingImage'' featured him from time to time, notably in the ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'' parody where he is seen sadly shaking his head as the Conservative cabinet sings "Tomorrow Belongs to Me", and "Exchequers" (a home for retired Prime Ministers) where he annoys his fellow residents with his organ-playing.