Heath’s greatest achievement was to take Britain into the European Economic Community, after it had been rejected twice. French President Charles de Gaulle left power in 1969, clearing one of the most important blocks to British entry. However, it still took all of Heath’s parliamentary skill and guile to get the policy through Parliament. He had a majority of 25, but it was thought that around 40 of his MPs were against joining. Through 105 divisions, the government’s majority held, partly due to a selection of pro-European Labour MPs who reliably abstained. On 28 October 1971, Parliament voted to join the EEC, with Britain joining on 1 January 1973.

The manifesto committed Heath to a more free market direction, including tax cuts and an end to industrial subsidies. But Heath baulked at the realities of such policies and started to abandon the ‘Selsdon Man’ manifesto quite quickly. He nationalised Rolls-Royce in 1971. When unemployment went over a million in January 1972, he shelved any pretence to being a free market leader.

Heath’s government also reformed local government in England and Wales, reshaping the boundaries and creating the modern structure of local government.

During Heath’s premiership, the situation in Northern Ireland deteriorated further. On Bloody Sunday in 1972, soldiers opened fire on a civil rights demonstration killing 13 people that day. In the aftermath, violence escalated. Heath tried to broker a solution with the Sunningdale agreement in late 1973, only for the agreement to be repudiated by Unionists. Heath approved both internment without trial and direct rule (the latter after the Stormont parliament refused to hand responsibility for law and order to Westminster).

In 1973, due to the OPEC oil embargo, the global price of oil rose sharply. The economy began to go into recession.

Heath tried to reform Britain’s industrial relations but was opposed by trade unions. The years of the Heath government would see millions of days lost to strike action. At the beginning of 1974, miners went on strike for higher wages. In an attempt to restrict energy use, the government restricted commercial users of electricity to three specified consecutive days’ consumption each week.

Soon afterwards, Heath called an election. He asked the country ‘Who governs Britain?’. He failed to win a majority, and, after attempting to create a coalition with the Liberals, resigned as Prime Minister.