Part One
Official leader of the opposition, 1975â9
1
Thatcher and the Conservative Partyâs Northern Ireland policy, 1975â9
â[A]t this time I can see no solution to the problems in Northern Ireland âŠâ: The genesis of Thatcherâs Northern Ireland policy
The Conservative Partyâs defeat at the second British general election of 1974 (the first general election was held in February of that year, the second in October) came as a bitter disappointment to Margaret Thatcher. Although easily retaining her seat in her Finchley constituency, with a majority of almost 4,000 votes, the Conservative Party managed to secure only 277 seats, compared to the Labour Partyâs 319 seats. Therefore, to the dismay of the Conservative Party leadership and rank-and-file supporters, alike, the ageing and increasingly volatile Harold Wilson, leader of the Labour Party, was provided with the opportunity to form a new administration under his premiership.
The loss of the general election was a political disaster for Edward Heath. This was his third general election defeat since his appointment as leader of the Conservative Party in 1965. Privately, like many of her senior Conservative Party colleagues, Thatcher now arrived at the conclusion that Heath must step aside as party leader. âI had no doubtâ, she recalled in The path to power, âthat Ted now ought to go.â1 As soon as the general election was over, in the words of John Campbell, the struggle for the leadership of the Conservative Party was âunofficially onâ.2 The question, was, however, who should succeed Heath?
Initially, a cabal of anti-Heath Conservative Party MPs were spoken of as possible contenders. The main candidates to succeed Heath included William Whitelaw, chairperson of the Conservative Party; Keith Joseph, a founding member of the Conservative Partyâs Centre for Policy Studies (CPS);3 Sir Edward Du Cann, chairperson of the Conservative Partyâs 1922 Committee;4 and lastly, Ian Gilmour, chairperson of the CRD.5
If Thatcherâs own account of the leadership contest is to be believed, she initially ruled herself out of the running, instead favouring Keith Joseph for the position.6 Her recollections, however, do not paint a full picture. Although Thatcher saw Joseph as the main contender, by the winter of 1974, she did think of herself as a possible candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party. On the general election campaign trail, between September and early October 1974, for instance, Thatcher had taken centre stage, canvassing combatively, âstrongly promoting the middle-class interestsâ, including the aspiration for home ownership.7 As a result, her national profile had steadily grown, with more and more people becoming aware of her abilities; a useful bonus in the event of a future leadership contest.
On 21 November 1974 â the same day as the Birmingham Pub bombings, in which the PIRA murdered twenty-one people and injured a further 182 â the Executive of the Conservative Partyâs 1922 Committee was informed that Thatcher would contest the post of leader of the Conservative Party (a position that technically did not exist as Heath continued to cling to power).8 Her decision to stand was greeted by a mixture of surprise and condescension amongst the higher echelons of the Conservative Party. Peter Walker,9 who served at ministerial level under Heath, summoned up the mood of the majority of senior Conservative Party figures regarding Thatcherâs chances of success: âSupporters could not believe that a woman who had never been anything other than Minister of Education could defeat the current male leader who had just been Prime Minister.â10
Despite garnering support from Keith Joseph and Humphrey Atkins, a perception prevailed that Thatcherâs decision to stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party was ânothing more than a chance to prepare the ground for a challenge by someone more seriousâ.11 To her many critics, in the words of Ben Jackson and Robert Saunders, âThatcher was a suburban housewife with no experience of high office, who seemed neither willing nor able to expand the partyâs constituency.â12 Indeed, given her sex and social background (the daughter of a shop grocer), Thatcher was seen as âsomething of an outsider in the Toriesâ high circlesâ.13
To the disbelief of many within the Conservative Party, however, Thatcher pulled off a staggering leadership victory. With the support of Airey Neave, who acted as her campaign manager during the latter stages of the leadership contest, Thatcher was appointed the leader of the Conservative Party on 11 February 1975. Not only did she beat Heath in the first ballot on 4 February (Thatcher, 130 votes; Heath, 119; and Sir Hugh Fraser,14 16), but following Heathâs resignation as party leader, she also won outright against Whitelaw, in the second ballot on 11 February (Thatcher, 146 votes; Whitelaw, 79), with the result that she did not need the third ballot.15 Thus, at 49 years of age, Thatcher became the first women leader of a major British political party.
Thatcher fondly remembered first receiving news of her victory. She recalled Neave opening the door to his office and saying, âso quietlyâ, âI have to tell you, you are the new Leader of the Opposition.â16 Following her election victory, she immediately tried to rally the Conservative parliamentary party, chiefly her rivals for the leadership behind her cause. âIt is important to meâ, she informed a press conference following her victory, â[that] this prize has been won in an open electoral contest with four other potential leaders. I know they will be disappointed, but I hope we shall soon be back working together as colleagues for the nation in which we all believe.â17
The final line-up of Thatcherâs new shadow cabinet was confirmed on 18 February 1975, less than a week after her election as leader of the Conservative Party. Whilst Heath declined a portfolio in Thatcherâs shadow cabinet, many of her previous rivals for the leadership of the Conservative Party quickly fell in behind her. In fact, former colleagues of Heath dominated her new shadow cabinet. Whitelaw duly accepted the post of deputy party leader. Sir Geoffrey Howe became shadow chancellor. Keith Joseph agreed to take over the responsibility for policy and research. Jim Prior was given employment. Francis Pym18 accepted agriculture (although he gave up the post following a nervous breakdown a few weeks later). Reginald (Reggie) Maudling19 came back to the frontbench to take on the role as shadow foreign secretary. Ian Gilmour was promoted to shadow home secretary (having briefly held the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland portfolio under Heath).
At his personal request, Neave, 59 years old, was appointed shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland. The Times welcomed Neaveâs appointment as the man charged with leading âthe Tory attack on Ulster policyâ.21 At the same time, Thatcher also made him titular head of her private office. In practice, however, Richard Ryder22 ran Thatcherâs office day to day, while Neave devoted himself to Northern Ireland policy. Neave confessed at the time that one of the reasons Thatcher decided to appoint him as titular head of the leaderâs private office was to guarantee that Northern Ireland policy was kept âclose to Mrs. Thatcherâ.23
Personally, Neave and Thatcher were relatively close to one another (their relationship, in the words of Robin Harris, âwas built on mutual respect and obligation rather than personal affectionâ).24 Even before Neave agreed to manage Thatcher campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party, they had known one another for several years. As barristers, they had shared the same chambers and had been neighbours at Westminster Gardens. During Thatcherâs period as the official opposition spokesperson for social security, she had helped Neave with his Bill to make provision for pensions for the over-eighties.25 A known critic of Heath (whom Neave âgreatly dislikedâ),26 in March 1974, Neave was elected to the anti-Heath Conservative Party 1922 Committee Executive.27
As the new official leader of the opposition, Thatcher wasted little time in conducting a root and branch review of the Conservative Partyâs policies. On the day of her election, she told ITN News, âYou donât exist as a party unless you have a clear philosophy and a clear message.â28 She immediately set out a radical new path, a path designed to âsave Britain from ever-worsening declineâ, to quote Jim Tomlinson.29
Thereafter, Thatcherâs central political objective â arguably obsession â was to rid Britain of the âbasic immoralityâ of Socialism, as she phrased it.30 First in her sights was to secure Britain from an impending economic abyss, described by Thatcher as a âcatastrophic national declineâ.31 As noted below, five major economic problems dominated the shadow cabinetâs economic strategy during Thatcherâs initial years as the official leader of the opposition. These economic objectives would later form part of what many commentators have described as the economic âmonetaristâ platform of âThatcherismâ.32 These five economic preoccupations were
(a) how to deduce rampant inflation;
(b) how to tackle inefficiencies and poor productivity in the bloated public sector;
(c) how to reduce pubic spending and borrowing and tackle imbalances in monetary policy (stemming from the enormous public sector deficits);
(d) how to reduce unemployment, and lastly;
(e) how to temper the power of trade unions and the reform of collective bargaining.33
However, as Thatcher accustomed herself to her new role as leader of the...