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Former UK prime minister Heath dies aged 89

Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 17:22 CDT

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, who took Britain into the forerunner of the European Union during his term in office in the early 1970s, died at home on Sunday, his party said. He was 89.

Heath ruled Britain from 1970 to 1974 but after losing power was ousted as Conservative Party leader by Margaret Thatcher, who went on to serve three terms.

As prime minister, he successfully negotiated Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 but later saw his party abandon his pro-European views.

Prime Minister Tony Blair paid tribute to a man of "integrity and beliefs he held firmly (and) from which he never wavered."

"He will be remembered by all who knew him as a political leader of great stature and significance," Blair said in a statement.

Conservative Party leader Michael Howard said Britain had lost "one of the political giants of the second half of the 20th century.

"He will always be rembered as the prime minister who took Britain into the European Economic Community," Howard said. "But his achievements went far beyond that and his passing will be mourned far and wide."

Heath once described the process of taking Britain into Europe as "the most enthralling episode in my life." But his achievements were soon overshadowed by economic problems and a series of strikes.

After a showdown with striking coalminers that put British industry on a three-day work week, he called an election in February 1974 on the issue of "who rules" and lost.

He then went down to defeat in another election in October that confirmed his Labour rival Harold Wilson as prime minister.

Heath was ousted as leader of the Conservative party the following year by Thatcher, his one-time education secretary.

Heath never forgave Thatcher for replacing him and repeatedly criticized her in interviews.

"Whatever the lady does is wrong. I do not know of a single right decision taken by her," he once said.

Born on July 9, 1916 to a carpenter and a housemaid in Broadstairs, a seaside resort in southeast England, Heath became an organ scholar at Balliol College, Oxford.

Heath never married but was passionate about music and frequently conducted orchestras as a skilled amateur. He also shone as an international yachtsman.

(Additional reporting by Mike Peacock)

Source: REUTERS

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