History of the Conservative Party (UK) holding a leadership election to allow him to renew his mandate. In spite of his track record as Conservative party leader, which had included defeat at three out of four general elections, few both inside and out of the party expected him to be seriously challenged, let alone defeated. However, Margaret Thatcher stood against Heath and in a shock result outpolled him on the first ballot, leading him to withdraw from the contest. Thatcher then faced off four other candidates to become the first woman to lead a major British political party. Thatcher had much support from the monetarists, led
Heath Caper Heath Caper The Heath Caper was an alleged plot by the KGB and the Czechoslovakian secret service (StB) to gain blackmail leverage over British Conservative politician Edward Heath. Josef Frolik, published details of the alleged plot in his memoirs in 1975. In 2012 the BBC interviewed Jan Mrazek, the supposed StB handler, who denied any involvement. The archives did not contradict him, however they did disagree with some of his general claims. Jan Mrazek claimed were made that George Kennedy Young, a former member of MI6, and on the opposite wing of the Conservative Party had initiated the story as