Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath (1916 – 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965-75 and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1970-74. Heath studied at Balliol College, Oxord. In 1938, he went to Spain to witness the ongoing civil war and then went on to serve in the British Army during the Second World War.

Heath applied for Britain to enter the European Economic Community (now the European Union) and was successful; he oversaw the completion of the decimalization of British currency in 1971, and the reorganization of the British counties. Heath also angered trade unions by bringing in an Industrial Relations Act and attempting to bring in a prices and income policy. In 1973, a miners' strike caused Heath to implement the Three-Day Week to conserve electricity. With the slogan 'Who Governs Britain?' Heath called for an election in February 1974 which resulted in a hung parliament; another election was held in October of that year and the Labour Party won by a small majority.

In his autobiography Heath is keen not to let Eurosceptics rewrite history; he emphasizes that, just as his time in charge of firing squads put him off capital punishment, so the war made him a determined European. Heath shows a dry humour and an unexpected sense of his own absurdity; there are some surprising vignettes as well, like Fidel Castro drunkenly ranting about his hero- worship of Winston Churchill, and Enoch Powell promising to break an NHS strike by importing Jamaican nurses.