February 6 1975
MR Heath quit as Tory Party Leader, handing over his functions as Opposition Leader to Shadow Chancellor Mr Robert Carr in the bitter hours after his humiliating defeat by Mrs Magaret Thatcher.
Mr Carr will chair Shadow Cabinet meetings until Tuesday’ second ballot in the Conservative power struggle and Party chairman Mr William Whitelaw is to oppose Mrs Thatcher “in the interests of party unity”.
Mr Jim Prior will be announcing this afternoon if he is to stand. Nominations close tomorrow.
The result of the first ballot was: Thatcher 130, Heath 119, Hugh Fraser 16. Eleven Tory MPs did not vote.
So Mrs Thatcher, one time Education Secretary in Mr Heath’s Cabinet, failed by just nine votes to capture an overall majority. But she came far short of winning the necessary additional 15 per cent – or 42 votes – over her runner-up to clinch outright victory.
Only 100 minutes after the result, Mr Heath announced he would not stand in the second ballot because of his sensational defeat.
A brief statement said: “It has been a great privilege to serve my Party as its leader and my country as its Prime Minister”. And he thanked those who had given him support and friendship.
Then he announced that he had asked Mr Carr to take over his duties as Opposition Leader until the procedure for electing a new leader had been completed. The Shadow Chancellor agreed.
Mr Carr will now chair Shadow Cabinet meetings and will be responsible for the day-to-day conduct of the Opposition Front Bench. He has already stressed that he is not a candidate for the leadership.
Although, technically, Mr Heath remains Opposition Leader until his successor is chosen, he has withdrawn from all the functions of his office.
Later, his most loyal colleague, Mr Whitelaw announced that he would oppose Mrs Thatcher. The Party Chairman had voted for Mr Heath because he believed “he had all the experience and prestige necessary to lead our party”.
Mr Whitelaw went on: “I will be asked what I have to offer the Conservative Party. I can only say that, of course, the result of Ted losing against the wishes of the Party and the country is a very traumatic experience for our Party.
I can only hope that I may be able to do so to unite our party. I believe that is my mission”.
Margaret Thatcher’s defeat of Ted Heath paved the way for her to succeed him as Tory Party leader later in the month, the first woman to be elected leader of a major British political party.
