Excellent stuff. There is always the question mark of Maudling's drinking: although it certainly was a factor in shaping his career in the 1970s, whether it was a significant influence in 1965 is hard to say (but, as you note, perception is important and I'm sure it played a part in that). As I said in a recent essay on Wilson, Heath was almost like the Conservative Party had looked at the Labour prime minister and created its own version, but it went horribly wrong. Heath was a terrible leader and an even worse prime minister, though he would never have accepted an iota of criticism. I always think it's a shame (you quite properly touch on it) how many people forget that Alec, the nicest man ever to be prime minister, I think, ran Wilson incredibly close in 1964, and it has been plausibly suggested that if Khrushchev had been ousted a week earlier, Alec's foreign affairs expertise might have swung it the Tories' way. Had that happened, I know Quintin Hailsham thought the Labour Party would have collapsed and a non-socialist centre-left party of some Labour figures, Liberals and left-ish Conservatives would have coalesced.
Thanks very much for your comment and kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I agree with what you say about Heath as a mirror of Wilson - alas, Labour got the better of the new generation of leaders. I agree, also, re Douglas-Home. There's a view (from Gilmour and others) that the closeness of the '64 election shows that anybody else would have won a Tory victory. But I think it's gibberish as it assumes that the election was close in spite of AD-H being the worst choice of leader in '63 and doesn't consider that the closeness of the result shows he may, actually, have been the best person for the job. I think it's perfectly plausible he did better than many (any?) of his party rivals, not least as his decency shone through.
I think that’s right. Rab flattered to deceive, I think, paralysed by indecision. Quintin would have given it everything but might have seemed just too erratic. As a rule of thumb, whatever Ian Gilmour thought, think the opposite and you can’t go too far wrong.
1. Macmillan had first met Heath when he was an undergraduate at Oxford. Macmillan's son, Maurice, was an undergraduate at Baliol when Heath was President of the JCR. In 1938, Harold Macmillan went to Oxford to support Lindsay, the anti-appeasement candidate, in the "Munich" byelection - both Heath and Maurice were active supporters of Lindsay. Macmillan remained a staunch opponent of the Munichois and there is no doubt that one reason he supported Heath was Heath's record as an opponent of appeasement.
2. Macmillan retained Heath as Chief Whip after he became Prime Minster. On the night of his appointment as PM, he dined with Heath at the Turf Club oysters, game pie, Champagne). Macmillan had told the Queen that he did not expect his government to last six months - in fact it lasted nearly seven years. There is no doubt that Macmillan hugely appreciated Heath's ;loyalty and support especially in the first difficult years and when Salisbury and Thorneycroft resigned.
3. Heath was not just responsible for European negotiations as Lord Privy Seal. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Home, being in the Lords Heath was the senior foreign office minster in the Commons and took Foreign Office questions and (unless Macmillan decided to lead himself) was the main Foreign Office spokesman in debates in the Commons..
4. Heath was an early and firm supporter of Alec Home's candidature for the premiership when Macmillan resigned,. When Alec Home left the Lords and became Prime Minister, Macmillan indicated that in his view Heath, not RAB Butler, would be the better Foreign Secretary. However Alec Home was not in a position to deny Butler the Foreign Office.
5. I have no doubt from conversations with Katie Macmillan, Maurice's wife, who urged Heath to let Alec lose the next election, and also comments by Harold that Heath (unlike Maudling who wanted Alec to stay on) encouraged pressure on Alec Home to step down. In 1975, when another election was held, this time with Heath as Leader, Macmillan was asked (over lunch the Beefsteak what he thought of the Conservative election. His response: "Matthew 26, verse 52" "What is that?:" "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword."
An additional note: The Chief Whip from October 1964 (appointed by Alec Home) through to 1970 was Willie Whitelaw. Whitelaw was a very close friend of Ted Heath (who of course had been one of his predecessors as Chief Whip) and was promoted under Ted Heath. On must wonder whether Willie saw some advantages in a Ted Heath succession and whether this influenced his reports to Alec Home on the attitude of the Parliamentary Party to Alec staying on.
Thanks for your comment and the insights on Macmillan and Heath, in particular. One of the striking things re Heath and Douglas-Home's resignation is that lots of people thought Heath's actions were encouraging Douglas-Home to go (almost certainly more quickly and effectively than he actually wanted) but Douglas-Home didn't seem to hold any grudges about it or, to my knowledge, suspect Whitelaw of being disloyal to him (although you're right, of course, that Whitelaw would go on to benefit from Heath's ascendency).
Sorry if I’m repeating this to you but Douglas-Home was the target of my favourite ever political protest sign (saw it in a Harold Wilson documentary)
Who exhumed You
Which if you’ve ever seen TV footage of that guy is just hilarious, especially as he seemed to have a sense of humour about himself and how he came across on TV
Excellent stuff. There is always the question mark of Maudling's drinking: although it certainly was a factor in shaping his career in the 1970s, whether it was a significant influence in 1965 is hard to say (but, as you note, perception is important and I'm sure it played a part in that). As I said in a recent essay on Wilson, Heath was almost like the Conservative Party had looked at the Labour prime minister and created its own version, but it went horribly wrong. Heath was a terrible leader and an even worse prime minister, though he would never have accepted an iota of criticism. I always think it's a shame (you quite properly touch on it) how many people forget that Alec, the nicest man ever to be prime minister, I think, ran Wilson incredibly close in 1964, and it has been plausibly suggested that if Khrushchev had been ousted a week earlier, Alec's foreign affairs expertise might have swung it the Tories' way. Had that happened, I know Quintin Hailsham thought the Labour Party would have collapsed and a non-socialist centre-left party of some Labour figures, Liberals and left-ish Conservatives would have coalesced.
Thanks very much for your comment and kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I agree with what you say about Heath as a mirror of Wilson - alas, Labour got the better of the new generation of leaders. I agree, also, re Douglas-Home. There's a view (from Gilmour and others) that the closeness of the '64 election shows that anybody else would have won a Tory victory. But I think it's gibberish as it assumes that the election was close in spite of AD-H being the worst choice of leader in '63 and doesn't consider that the closeness of the result shows he may, actually, have been the best person for the job. I think it's perfectly plausible he did better than many (any?) of his party rivals, not least as his decency shone through.
I think that’s right. Rab flattered to deceive, I think, paralysed by indecision. Quintin would have given it everything but might have seemed just too erratic. As a rule of thumb, whatever Ian Gilmour thought, think the opposite and you can’t go too far wrong.
On Macmillan and Heath:
1. Macmillan had first met Heath when he was an undergraduate at Oxford. Macmillan's son, Maurice, was an undergraduate at Baliol when Heath was President of the JCR. In 1938, Harold Macmillan went to Oxford to support Lindsay, the anti-appeasement candidate, in the "Munich" byelection - both Heath and Maurice were active supporters of Lindsay. Macmillan remained a staunch opponent of the Munichois and there is no doubt that one reason he supported Heath was Heath's record as an opponent of appeasement.
2. Macmillan retained Heath as Chief Whip after he became Prime Minster. On the night of his appointment as PM, he dined with Heath at the Turf Club oysters, game pie, Champagne). Macmillan had told the Queen that he did not expect his government to last six months - in fact it lasted nearly seven years. There is no doubt that Macmillan hugely appreciated Heath's ;loyalty and support especially in the first difficult years and when Salisbury and Thorneycroft resigned.
3. Heath was not just responsible for European negotiations as Lord Privy Seal. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Home, being in the Lords Heath was the senior foreign office minster in the Commons and took Foreign Office questions and (unless Macmillan decided to lead himself) was the main Foreign Office spokesman in debates in the Commons..
4. Heath was an early and firm supporter of Alec Home's candidature for the premiership when Macmillan resigned,. When Alec Home left the Lords and became Prime Minister, Macmillan indicated that in his view Heath, not RAB Butler, would be the better Foreign Secretary. However Alec Home was not in a position to deny Butler the Foreign Office.
5. I have no doubt from conversations with Katie Macmillan, Maurice's wife, who urged Heath to let Alec lose the next election, and also comments by Harold that Heath (unlike Maudling who wanted Alec to stay on) encouraged pressure on Alec Home to step down. In 1975, when another election was held, this time with Heath as Leader, Macmillan was asked (over lunch the Beefsteak what he thought of the Conservative election. His response: "Matthew 26, verse 52" "What is that?:" "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword."
An additional note: The Chief Whip from October 1964 (appointed by Alec Home) through to 1970 was Willie Whitelaw. Whitelaw was a very close friend of Ted Heath (who of course had been one of his predecessors as Chief Whip) and was promoted under Ted Heath. On must wonder whether Willie saw some advantages in a Ted Heath succession and whether this influenced his reports to Alec Home on the attitude of the Parliamentary Party to Alec staying on.
Thanks for your comment and the insights on Macmillan and Heath, in particular. One of the striking things re Heath and Douglas-Home's resignation is that lots of people thought Heath's actions were encouraging Douglas-Home to go (almost certainly more quickly and effectively than he actually wanted) but Douglas-Home didn't seem to hold any grudges about it or, to my knowledge, suspect Whitelaw of being disloyal to him (although you're right, of course, that Whitelaw would go on to benefit from Heath's ascendency).
Sorry if I’m repeating this to you but Douglas-Home was the target of my favourite ever political protest sign (saw it in a Harold Wilson documentary)
Who exhumed You
Which if you’ve ever seen TV footage of that guy is just hilarious, especially as he seemed to have a sense of humour about himself and how he came across on TV