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
Edward Heath Trade and Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, and oversaw the abolition of retail price maintenance. After the Conservative Party lost the general election of 1964, the defeated Home changed the party leadership rules to allow for a ballot by MPs, and then resigned. The following year, Heath—who was Shadow Chancellor at the time, and had recently won favourable publicity for leading the fight against Labour's Finance Bill—unexpectedly won the party's leadership contest, gaining 150 votes to Reginald Maudling's 133 and Enoch Powell's 15. Heath became the Conservatives' youngest leader and retained office after the party's defeat