Editing Michael Heseltine (section)

==Oxford==
Heseltine campaigned briefly as a volunteer in the [[1951 United Kingdom general election|October 1951 general election]] before going up to [[Pembroke College, Oxford]]. While there, in frustration at his inability to be elected to the committee of the [[Oxford University Conservative Association]], he founded the breakaway Blue Ribbon Club. Along with undergraduates [[Guy Arnold]], Julian Critchley and Martin Morton he canvassed workers at the gates of the Vickers Shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.<ref>''Oxford men speak at Shipyard'', Barrow-in-Furness Mail, c1953. Archive of Guy Arnold, 2018.</ref> [[Julian Critchley]] recounted a story from his student days of how he plotted his future on the back of an envelope, a future that would culminate as prime minister in the 1990s. A more detailed apocryphal version has him writing down: 'millionaire 25, cabinet member 35, party leader 45, prime minister 55,'<ref>[[Andrew Marr]], ''A History of Modern Britain'' (2009), p. 418.</ref> though Heseltine himself disputes this and instead recalls a lack of self-belief.<ref>{{cite podcast| url= https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/episodes/7DrhAwx/| title=Michael Heseltine on Suella, Enoch Powell and Saving Liverpool| website=The News Agents| publisher=Global Player| host=Lewis Goodall| date=23 September 2023|access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> He became a millionaire and was a member of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] from the age of 46, but narrowly failed to become Party Leader or prime minister.

His biographers [[Michael Crick]] and Julian Critchley (who was a contemporary of Heseltine's at Brockhurst Prep School) recount how, despite not having an innate gift for public speaking, he became a strong orator through much effort, which included practising his speeches in front of a mirror, listening to tape recordings of speeches by television administrator [[Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton|Charles Hill]], and taking voice-coaching lessons from a vicar's wife. (In the 1970s and 1980s, Heseltine's conference speech was often the highlight of the Conservative Party Conference, despite his views being well to the left of the then leader [[Margaret Thatcher]].) He was eventually elected to the Library Committee of the [[Oxford Union]] for Hilary (Spring) Term 1953.<ref>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, p. 32.</ref> The Oxford Union minutes record after a debate on 12 February 1953 that "Mr Heseltine should guard against artificial mannerisms of voice and calculated flourishes of self-conscious histrionics; this is only worth saying because he has the makings of a first class speaker".<ref>Pearce 2016, p. 539.</ref>

Heseltine was then elected to the Standing Committee of the Oxford Union for Trinity (summer) Term 1953.<ref name=autogenerated1>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, pp. 25–39.</ref> On 30 April 1953 he opposed the setting up of the [[Western European Union]] (a European defence treaty), not least because it might antagonise the USSR following the supposed "recent change of Soviet attitudes" (i.e. after [[Stalin]]'s death). On 4 June 1953, he called for the development of the [[British Commonwealth]] as a third major power in the world (after the US and USSR).<ref>Pearce 2016, pp. 541–2.</ref> At the end of that summer term he stood unsuccessfully for the Presidency but was instead elected to the top place on the committee.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> In his third year (1953–54) he served in top place on the committee, then as Secretary, and finally as Treasurer.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite book |author1=Magnus Linklater |author2=David Leigh |title=Not with honour: the inside story of the Westland scandal|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=heseltine+second-class+degree+in+Philosophy,+Politics+and+Economics+inauthor:leigh |year=1986 |publisher=Sphere Books |page=11}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>Crick, p. 357.</ref><ref name=autogenerated1 /> As Treasurer he attempted to solve the Union's financial problems not by cost-cutting but by an ultimately successful "Brighter Union" policy of bringing in more students for food and drink, and by converting the Union cellars into a venue for events. The Union's Senior Member (the university don that every society was required to have) resigned in protest at what he saw as Heseltine's profligacy, and was replaced by the young [[Maurice Shock]].<ref>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, p. 33.</ref>

At the end of the Trinity (summer) Term 1954, Heseltine was elected [[President of the Oxford Union]] for [[Michaelmas]] term 1954, largely on the strength of his business management, and with the assistance of Union contemporaries [[Jeremy Isaacs]] and [[Anthony Howard (journalist)|Anthony Howard]], the then chairman and chairman-elect of the [[Oxford University Labour Club]]; Heseltine had even, for a brief period that term, joined a protest group against the Conservative government's testing of an [[H-Bomb]].<ref>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, pp. 29-35.</ref>{{efn|His brief opposition to the H-Bomb caused him some embarrassment as Defence Secretary in 1984, when it was unearthed by ''[[The Guardian]]''. He later recorded that he would have been more embarrassed had the newspaper uncovered his support for [[Aneurin Bevan]]'s foreign policy positions the previous year.[''Life in the Jungle'' pp. 29–35]}} He had done little study at University, and passed his finals with the help of last-minute coaching from friends. After graduating with a second-class degree in [[Philosophy, politics and economics]], described by his tutor Neville Ward-Perkins as "a great and undeserved triumph", he was permitted to stay on for an extra term to serve as Union President.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated1 />

The Union cellars were opened on 30 October 1954, and Heseltine persuaded the visiting [[Bernard Docker|Sir Bernard]] and [[Lady Docker]] to contribute to the considerable cost.<ref>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, p. 35.</ref> Debates over which he presided included censorship of the Arts (no vote taken), welcoming the decline of British Imperialism (defeated 281–381) and calling for a "change in the principles and practice of British Trade Unions" (carried 358–200).<ref>Pearce 2016, pp. 550–2.</ref> Guest speakers that term included [[Rajani Palme Dutt]], Lady [[Violet Bonham Carter]], his old headmaster [[John Wolfenden]] and [[Jacob Bronowski]], whilst [[Aneurin Bevan]] addressed a packed meeting of the University Labour Club, chaired by Anthony Howard, in the Union Chamber.<ref>Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, {{ISBN|0-340-73915-0}}, p. 36.</ref>