\"British Prime Minister\" Edward Heath Hand Signed 3X5 Card JG Autographs COA For Sale

Up for sale \"British Prime Minister\" Edward Heath Hand Signed 3X5 Card Dated 1995.This item is certified authentic by JGAutographs and comes with their Letter of Authenticity.

ES-6232E
Sir Edward Richard George Heath,KG,MBE(9July 1916– 17 July 2005) wasPrimeMinister of the United Kingdomfrom 1970 to 1974 andLeader ofthe Conservative Partyfrom 1965 to 1975. Heath served for 51years as aMember ofParliamentfrom 1950 to 2001. Outside politics, Heath was alsoa world-classyachtsmanand a talented musician. Bornthe child of a carpenter and a lady\'s maid, Heath was educated at agrammar schooland became a leader within studentpolitics while studying at theUniversity of Oxford. Heserved as an officer in theRoyal Artilleryduring theSecond World War. He worked briefly in theCivil Service,but resigned in order to stand for Parliament, and was elected forBexleyatthe1950election.[1]He was promoted to becomeChief WhipbyAnthony Edenin 1955, and in 1959 was appointed totheCabinetbyHarold MacmillanasMinister of Labour. Helater held the role ofLord Privy Sealand in 1963, was madePresident of the Board ofTradebyAlec Douglas-Home. After the Conservatives were defeated atthe1964election, Heathwas electedasLeader of the Conservative Party in 1965, becomingLeader ofthe Opposition. Although he led the Conservatives to a landslidedefeat at the1966election, he remained in the leadership, and at the1970electionled his party to an unexpected victory. During histime as Prime Minister, Heath oversaw thedecimalisation of British coinagein 1971, and in 1972 heled the reformation oflocalgovernment in the United Kingdom, significantly reducing the numberof local authorities and creating a number of new metropolitan counties, muchof which remains to this day. Perhaps Heath\'s most prominent achievement camein 1973, when he led the United Kingdom into membership of theEuropean Communities(whichwould later become theEuropean Union) as amember state.Heath had always been a strong supporter of British membership of the EC, andafter winning the decisive vote in theHouse ofCommonsby 356 to 244 to join, he led the negotiations thatculminated in the UK\'sentry into the ECon 1 January 1973.According to biographerJohn Campbell, Heathregarded this as his personal \"finest hour\". Heath\'stime as Prime Minister also coincided with the height ofthe TroublesinNorthern Ireland, with his approval ofinternment without trialandsubsequent suspension of theStormont Parliamentseeingthe imposition of direct British rule. Unofficial talks withProvisional Irish RepublicanArmydelegates were unsuccessful, as was theSunningdale Agreementof1973, which led the MPs of theUlster Unionist Partytowithdraw from the Conservative whip. Heath also tried to reform British tradeunionism with theIndustrial Relations Act,and hoped to deregulate the economy and make a transfer fromdirecttoindirect taxation. However, a miners\' strike at the start of1974 severely damaged the Government, causing the implementation of theThree-Day Weekto conserve energy. Attempting to resolvethe situation, Heath called anelectionforFebruary 1974, attempting to obtain a mandate to face down the miners\' wagedemands, but this instead resulted in ahung parliament, with the Conservatives losing their majority.Despite gaining fewer votes, the Labour Party won four more seats, and Heathresigned as Prime Minister on 4 March after talks with theLiberal Partyto forma coalition government were unsuccessful. After losing asecondsuccessive electionin October 1974, he Heath insisted he wouldcontinue as leader, but in January 1975,Margaret Thatcherannounced she wouldchallengeHeathfor the leadership, and on 4 February, she narrowlyoutpolled him in the first round. Heath chose to resign the leadership ratherthan contest the second round. Heath returned to the backbench, where he wouldremain until 2001. In 1975, he played a major role in thereferendumon British membership of the EC, campaigningfor the eventually successful \"Yes\" vote to remain in the Community.He would later become a severe critic of Thatcher during her time as PrimeMinister, speaking and writing against the policies ofThatcherism. After the1992election, he becameFather ofthe House, until his retirement in 2001. He died in 2005, aged 89.He is one of four British Prime Ministers never to have married. He has beendescribed as \"the first working-class meritocrat\" to becomeConservative leader in \"the party\'s modern history\" and \"aOne NationConservativein theDisraelitraditionwho rejected the laissez-faire capitalism that Thatcher would enthusiasticallyendorse.\"