To have a civil war within the Conservative Party at that time, in the belief that the referendum having been determined the participants in this civil war are going to sit round table the table and happily smile together is, I think, rather naive, it split the Labour Party ... it kept the Labour Party out of power for nearly two decades.

Michael Heseltine

Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001, and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. In 1990 he stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party against Margaret Thatcher and, while he was unsuccessful, his standing triggered Thatcher's eventual resignation. Heseltine entered the Cabinet in 1979 as Secretary of State for the Environment, where he promoted the "Right to buy" campaign that allowed two million families to purchase their council houses. He was Secretary of State for Defence from 1983 to 1986. In the latter role he was instrumental in the political battle against the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Heseltine was widely considered an adept media performer and a charismatic Minister, although he was frequently at odds with Thatcher on economic issues and was one of the most visible of the "wets" in that regard. He resigned from the Cabinet in 1986 over the Westland Affair and returned to the back benches.

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