Michael Heseltine

The Lord Heseltine
Official portrait, 2007
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byGeoffrey Howe[a]
Succeeded byJohn Prescott
First Secretary of State
In office
5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byBarbara Castle[b]
Succeeded byJohn Prescott[c]
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
President of the Board of Trade
In office
11 April 1992 – 5 July 1995
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byPeter Lilley
Succeeded byIan Lang
Secretary of State for the Environment
In office
28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byChris Patten
Succeeded byMichael Howard
In office
5 May 1979 – 6 January 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPeter Shore
Succeeded byTom King
Secretary of State for Defence
In office
6 January 1983 – 9 January 1986
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byJohn Nott
Succeeded byGeorge Younger
Junior ministerial offices
Minister of State for Aerospace and Shipping
In office
24 March 1972 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byFrederick Corfield
Succeeded byStanley Clinton Davis
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment
In office
15 October 1970 – 7 April 1972
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byReginald Eyre
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport
In office
24 June 1970 – 15 October 1970
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byAlbert Murray
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Shadow Cabinet portfolios
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
In office
19 November 1976 – 4 May 1979
LeaderMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byTimothy Raison
Succeeded byPeter Shore
Shadow Secretary of State for Industry
In office
11 March 1974 – 19 November 1976
Leader
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJohn Biffen
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
23 October 2001
Member of Parliament
for Henley
In office
28 February 1974 – 14 May 2001
Preceded byJohn Hay
Succeeded byBoris Johnson
Member of Parliament
for Tavistock
In office
31 March 1966 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byHenry Studholme
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine

(1933-03-21) 21 March 1933 (age 91)
Swansea, Wales
Political partyConservative[1][2][d]
Spouse
Anne Williams
(m. 1962)
Children3, including Annabel
Alma materPembroke College, Oxford
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service1959
RankSecond lieutenant
UnitWelsh Guards

Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC (/ˈhɛzəltn/; born 21 March 1933)[3] is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001. He was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and served as Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State under Major.

Heseltine entered the Cabinet in 1979 as Secretary of State for the Environment, where he promoted the "Right to Buy" campaign that allowed people to purchase their council houses. He was considered an adept media performer and a charismatic minister, although he was frequently at odds with Thatcher on economic issues. He was one of the most visible "wets", whose "One Nation" views were epitomised by his support for the regeneration of Liverpool in the early 1980s when it was facing economic collapse; this later earned him the award of Freeman of the City of Liverpool in 2012. As Secretary of State for Defence from 1983 to 1986, he was instrumental in the political battle against the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He resigned from the Cabinet in 1986 over the Westland affair and returned to the backbenches, becoming a vocal critic of Thatcher, mostly because of her Eurosceptic views and confrontational approach in Parliament. Following Geoffrey Howe's resignation speech in November 1990, Heseltine challenged Thatcher for the party leadership, polling well enough to deny her an outright victory on the first ballot. Following Thatcher's subsequent resignation, Heseltine lost to John Major on the second ballot, but returned to the Cabinet in his former post of Environment Secretary when Major became prime minister.

As a key ally of Major, Heseltine was appointed President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry following the 1992 general election. He supported Major when his leadership was challenged in 1995, and was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State in return for his support. He declined to seek the leadership of the party following Major's 1997 election defeat, and served in Major's shadow cabinet as Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry while the leadership election to succeed him was taking place.

Heseltine was created a life peer in 2001 and has remained a vocal advocate for modernisation within the party. He has continued to make political interventions, criticising Brexit and Boris Johnson following the 2016 Brexit referendum result. In 2019, Heseltine had the whip suspended after saying he would vote for the Liberal Democrats, rather than the Conservatives, at the 2019 European Parliament election. Heseltine had the whip restored in July 2024.


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  1. ^ "Lord Heseltine - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  2. ^ Membery, York (April 2023). "Tarzan turns 90". The Oldie. No. 424. p. 19. Retrieved 4 June 2024 – via Issuu. I'm still a [Tory] party member
  3. ^ "Mr Michael Heseltine (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2021.