Editing William Whitelaw (section)

===In opposition, 1974–1979===
Soon after [[Harold Wilson]]'s Labour Party returned to government, Heath appointed Whitelaw as deputy leader of the opposition and chairman of the Conservative Party. Following a second defeat in the [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October 1974 general election]], during which Whitelaw had accused Wilson of going "round and round the country stirring up apathy", Heath was forced to call a [[1975 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership election in 1975]]. Whitelaw loyally refused to run against Heath; however, and to widespread surprise, [[Margaret Thatcher]] narrowly defeated Heath in the first round. Whitelaw stood in his place and lost convincingly against Thatcher in the second round. The vote polarised along right–left lines, with in addition the region, experience and education of the MP having their effects.<ref>Philip Cowley and Matthew Bailey, "Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-Examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest", ''British Journal of Political Science'' (2000) 30#4 pp. 599–629 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/194287 in JSTOR]</ref>

Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as deputy leader until the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], when he was appointed [[Home Secretary]]. In an unofficial capacity,<ref name="Hennessy" /> he also served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] in Thatcher's new government.<ref name="Aitken" /><ref>Charles Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands'' (2013), p. 427.</ref>