Edward Richard George Heath

Born July 9, 1916, in Broadstairs, Kent. British state figure.

Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, Heath served in the artillery during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1945. A Conservative, he was first elected to Parliament in 1950. He was the chief government whip from 1955 to 1959 and occupied various ministerial posts in Conservative governments from 1959 to 1964. In 1965, Heath was elected leader of the Conservative Party, and he served as prime minister of Great Britain from 1970 to 1974.

Heath’s name is associated with the Conservative government’s harsh legislation directed against the working class. In 1972 the Heath government gained Great Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community (Common Market). The defeat of the Conservatives in the early general election of February 1974 resulted in Heath’s resignation as prime minister. In 1975, Heath was forced to give up his post as leader of the Conservative Party.