Editing Edward Heath (section)

==Fall from power==
[[File:Ford A0655 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1974-09-09)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Heath greeting US president [[Gerald Ford]] in September 1974]] 
{{See also|Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath}}

===1974 general elections===
Heath tried to bolster his government by calling a [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election]] for 28 February 1974, using the election slogan "Who governs Britain?". The result of the election was inconclusive with no party gaining an overall majority in the House of Commons; the Conservatives had the most votes but Labour had slightly more seats. Heath began negotiations with [[Jeremy Thorpe]], leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], but when these failed, he resigned as prime minister on 4 March 1974, and was replaced by Wilson's minority Labour government, eventually confirmed, though with a tiny majority, in a second election in October.<ref>David E. Butler et al. ''The British General Election of February 1974'' (1975); David E. Butler et al. ''The British General Election of October 1974'' (1975)</ref> To date, Heath is the last British Prime Minister to have both assumed and lost their term of office by means of a general election.

===Rise of Thatcher===
Heath came to be seen as a liability by many Conservative MPs, party activists and newspaper editors. His personality was considered cold and aloof, annoying even to his friends. [[Alan Watkins]] observed in 1991 that his "brusqueness, his gaucherie, his lack of small or indeed any talk, his sheer bad manners" were among the factors costing him the support of Conservative backbenchers in the subsequent [[1975 Conservative Party leadership election|Conservative leadership election]].<ref>Watkins 1991, pp. 174–175.</ref>

He resolved to remain Conservative leader, even after losing the October 1974 general election, and at first it appeared that by calling on the loyalty of his front-bench colleagues he might prevail. In the weeks following the second election defeat, Heath came under tremendous pressure to concede a review of the rules and agreed to establish a commission to propose changes and to seek re-election. There was no clear challenger after [[Enoch Powell]] had left the party and [[Keith Joseph]] had ruled himself out after controversial statements implying that the working classes should be encouraged to use more birth control. Joseph's close friend and ally [[Margaret Thatcher]], who believed that an adherent to the philosophy of the [[Centre for Policy Studies]] should stand, joined the leadership contest in his place alongside the outsider [[Hugh Fraser (British politician)|Hugh Fraser]]. Aided by [[Airey Neave]]'s campaigning among backbench MPs — whose earlier approach to [[William Whitelaw]] had been rebuffed, out of loyalty to Heath — she emerged as the only serious challenger.<ref>Moore, ''Thatcher'', vol. 1, chapters 11–12.</ref>

The new rules permitted new candidates to enter the ballot in a second round of voting should the first be inconclusive, so Thatcher's challenge was considered by some to be that of a stalking horse. Neave deliberately understated Thatcher's support to attract wavering votes from MPs who were keen to see Heath replaced even though they did not necessarily want Thatcher to replace him.<ref>John Campbell, ''The Grocer's Daughter''</ref><ref>Heath, Edward. ''The Course of My Life'' (1998), p. 532.</ref>

On 4 February 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the first ballot by 130 votes to 119, with Fraser coming in a distant third with 16 votes. This was not a big enough margin to give Thatcher the 15% majority necessary to win on the first ballot, but having finished in second place Heath immediately resigned and did not contest the next ballot. His favoured candidate, William Whitelaw, lost to Thatcher in the second vote one week later (Thatcher 146, Whitelaw 79, [[Geoffrey Howe|Howe]] 19, [[Jim Prior|Prior]] 19, [[John Peyton, Baron Peyton of Yeovil|Peyton]] 11).<ref>Moore, ''Thatcher'' 1:289–295.</ref> The vote polarised along right-left lines, with in addition the region, experience and education of the MP having their effects. Heath and Whitelaw were stronger on the left, among Oxbridge and public school graduates, and in MPs from Northern England or Scotland.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor = 194287|title = Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-Examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest|journal = British Journal of Political Science|volume = 30|issue = 4|pages = 599–629|last1 = Cowley|first1 = Philip|last2 = Bailey|first2 = Matthew|year = 2000|doi = 10.1017/S0007123400000260| doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid = 154834667}}</ref>

Thatcher had promised Heath a seat in the Shadow Cabinet and planned to offer him whatever post he wanted. His advisors agreed he should wait at least six months, so he declined. He never relented and his refusal was called "the incredible sulk".<ref>Moore, ''Thatcher'' 1:297–298.</ref> Thatcher visited Heath at his home shortly after her election as leader and had to stay for coffee with his PPS [[Timothy Kitson]] so the waiting press would not realise how brief the visit had been. Heath claimed that he had simply declined her request for advice about how to handle the press, whilst Thatcher claimed that she offered him any Shadow Cabinet position he wanted and asked him to lead the Conservative campaign in the imminent [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|EEC referendum]], only to be rudely rebuffed.<ref>Ziegler 2010, pp. 490–491.</ref>