1975 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election 1975 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1975 Conservative Party leadership election was held in February 1975, in which the party's sitting MPs voted Margaret Thatcher as party leader on the second ballot. Previous leader Edward Heath stood aside after the first ballot, in which he unexpectedly finished behind Thatcher. The Conservatives were the official Opposition to the Labour government, so Thatcher also became Leader of the Opposition. Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister had called and unexpectedly lost the February 1974 general election. Although the Labour Party were able only to form a minority government,
History of the Conservative Party (UK) attempts at reforming the increasingly militant trade unions. The era of 1970s British industrial unrest had arrived. The Troubles in Northern Ireland would lead Heath to suspending the Parliament of Northern Ireland and introducing direct rule as a precursor to establishing a power-sharing executive under the Sunningdale Agreement. This resulted in the Conservative Party losing the support of the Ulster Unionist Party at Westminster, which was to have consequences in later years when the party found itself reliant on tiny Commons majorities. Heath himself considered his greatest success in office to be the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic