Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath The Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath was created after the Conservative Party lost the February 1974 general election. It was led by the Leader of the Conservative Party Edward Heath and featured prominent Conservative politicians both past and future. Included was Heath’s successor Margaret Thatcher, the future Home Secretary William Whitelaw, and two future Foreign Secretaries, Lord Carrington and Francis Pym. For the first time in history, a leadership election was held in 1975 for the Conservative Party whilst the position was not vacant. Margaret Thatcher challenged Heath, with whom the majority of
British Columbia Conservative Party who was now in the anti-coalition faction, quit the party and crossed the floor to sit as a Social Credit League of British Columbia member and eventually formed the British Columbia Social Credit Party. In October 1951, the Liberal Party decided to dissolve the coalition; Premier Johnson dismissed his Conservative ministers including Anscomb and continued as a minority government. The Conservatives refounded their party calling themselves the "Progressive Conservatives" as the federal party had adopted the "Progressive" prefix in 1942. W. A. C. Bennett, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), ran for the leadership of the Tories and lost.