Editing Norman Tebbit (section)

===Involvement with the Conservative Party after 1992===

Tebbit privately said of John Major on 17 November 1994: "He has the mulishness of a weak man with stupidity". When asked what would it take for him to support Major, Tebbit responded: "Have an entirely new department, the sole job of which would be to deal with the Brussels machinery in every aspect. I agree that we don't want to leave the EU, but we've got to manipulate it and block every single advance we don't like. No, no, no must be his weapon. Veto everything he disapproves of or that we disapprove of".<ref>Wyatt, ''Volume Three'', pp. 437–8.</ref>

In 1995, Tebbit publicly backed [[John Redwood]]'s [[1995 Conservative Party leadership election|bid for the Conservative Party leadership]], praising his "brains, courage and humour".

In an interview for the ''[[New Statesman]]'' magazine in June 2000, Tebbit praised Hague's right-ward shift and said that he had "never been a [Michael] Portillo fan". He also mused on not standing for the Conservative leadership after Thatcher's resignation: "When I look at what happened to the party, I tell myself that perhaps I failed in a duty. I suppose I am one of those who have it on my conscience that I allowed Mr Blair to become Prime Minister". When asked if he regretted also allowing Major to become Prime Minister, Tebbit responded:

<blockquote>I helped him. If I'd opposed him, he wouldn't have been on the radar screen. I'd have been opposing Michael Heseltine. I had to make the decision quickly. I didn't want to go back on my word to my wife that I'd retired from front-line politics. How would it all work? Was No 10 suitable for someone in a wheelchair? All these things go through one's mind. Then if Michael had won...he would have had to ask me to join his government, and I didn't want that. I asked myself: why am I risking all this? And I made my decision...I might have been an absolute disaster in the job. It's possible. So I am left there. You can't rewrite it. You can't rerun it.<ref name="newstatesman1"/></blockquote>

In August 2002, Tebbit called on the then leader of the Conservatives, [[Iain Duncan Smith]], to "clear out" Conservative Central Office of "squabbling children" who were involved with infighting within the Party.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3580542/IDS-must-sack-the-squabbling-children.html|last= Tebbit |first= Norman |date= 18 August 2002 |work= The Daily Telegraph |access-date=18 May 2013 |location=London |title=IDS must sack the squabbling children}}</ref> He named [[Mark MacGregor]], a former leader of the [[Federation of Conservative Students]] which Tebbit disbanded for "loony Right libertarian politics", as one of them. Then, in October the same year, Tebbit accused a group of Conservative "modernisers" called "The Movement" of trying to get him expelled from the Party. Tebbit said that The Movement consisted of a "loose" grouping of thirteen members who had previously supported [[Kenneth Clarke]] and [[Michael Portillo]] for Party leader. Duncan Smith subsequently denied that Tebbit would ever be expelled and Thatcher publicly said she was "appalled" at attempts to have Tebbit expelled and telephoned him to say that she was "four square behind him".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26276393_ITM | work=Europe Intelligence Wire | title=Thatcher 'appalled' by attacks on Tebbit | date=12 October 2002}}</ref>

In February 2003, Tebbit gave a speech to an audience of the [[Chartered Institute of Journalists]] at London's [[Reform Club]] in [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], urging journalists to reject [[political correctness]] in favour of "open, honest and vigorous debate". He blamed "timid" politicians, including members of his own party, for allowing PC language and ideas to take hold in Britain by default.<ref>''[[Press Gazette]]'', London, 21 February 2003.</ref>

Tebbit backed [[David Davis (British politician)|David Davis]] for Party leader during the [[2005 Conservative leadership election]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/davis-wins-tebbits-backing-p5jth3sg7d8|title= Davis wins Tebbit's backing|last1= Bennett|first1= Rosemary |date= 8 November 2005 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref>

On 30 January 2006, he accused the Conservative Party of abandoning the party's true supporters on the Right, and opposed the new Leader [[David Cameron]]'s attempts "to reposition the party on the 'Left of the middle ground'".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1509210/Dont-be-fooled-by-Cameron-Tebbit-to-warn-Right.html |title=Don't be fooled by Cameron, Tebbit to warn Right |last1= Helm |first1= Toby |last2=Rennie |first2=David |date=30 January 2006 |work= The Daily Telegraph |access-date=18 May 2013 |location=London}}</ref>

In an interview with ''[[The Times]]'' in September 2007, Tebbit said the Conservatives lack somebody of the standing of Thatcher, and said that although it did not matter if Cameron's team were educated at Eton, "what a lot of people will suggest is that they don't know how the other half lives. David and his colleagues – the very clever young men they have in Central Office these days – are very intellectually clever, but they have no experience of the world whatsoever. He has spent much of his time in the Conservative Party and as a public relations guy. Well, it's not the experience of most people in the streets. That's the real attack and that's damaging to him, I think".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/2007/09/29/the-torchbearer/ |title=Ginny Dougary, 'Norman Tebbit discusses Cameron, loss and multiculturalism'; The Times |publisher=Ginnydougary.co.uk |date=29 September 2007 |access-date=17 August 2014 |archive-date=6 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106073529/http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/2007/09/29/the-torchbearer/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article2023900.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200226133427/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article2023900.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 February 2020 |title=Tebbit hits out at Tories and names Brown as Thatcher's natural heir |last1=Webster |first1= Philip |date=26 September 2007 |work= [[The Times]] |access-date=18 May 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Norman Tebbit Edinburgh University Politics Society 2008.JPG|thumb|upright|Tebbit giving a talk for the [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh University]] Politics Society in 2008]]
In February 2008, after a magazine article written by shadow education secretary [[Michael Gove]], Tebbit publicly criticised what he characterised as "the poisonous tree of Blairism", which he said had been "planted" in the Conservative Party front bench.<ref>Andrew Porter [https://web.archive.org/web/20080504015414/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/1580149/Lord-Tebbit-warns-on-worship-of-Tony-Blair.html "Lord Tebbit warns on worship of Tony Blair"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 18 April 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.</ref>

Tebbit is the vice-president of the [[Conservative Way Forward]] group. He continued his criticism of the Conservative Party's move to a more "centre-right" position by stating that their abandonment of the traditional right vote has created a political vacuum, contributing to the rise of the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] (UKIP), including two MP defections, both from the Conservatives.<ref>[http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Tebbit-Tories-struggle-election-unless-UKIP/story-25798093-detail/story.html "Lord Tebbit: Tories will struggle in election unless UKIP implode"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103014745/http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Tebbit-Tories-struggle-election-unless-UKIP/story-25798093-detail/story.html |date=3 January 2015 }} ''[[Western Morning News]]'', 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.</ref>

Tebbit retired from the House of Lords on 31 March 2022, under provision in the [[House of Lords Reform Act 2014]].<ref name="hol-retirement"/>