Heath ministry
Government of the United Kingdom
Edward Heath of the Conservative Party formed the Heath ministry and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 June 1970, following the general election of the previous day. The Heath ministry ended after the February 1974 general election, which produced a hung parliament, leading to the formation of a minority government by Harold Wilson of the Labour Party.
Heath had been elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 1965 – succeeding Alec Douglas-Home – within a few months of the party's election defeat after 13 years in government. In the following year, his first general election as Leader resulted in defeat as Wilson's Labour government increased its majority. The Conservatives enjoyed a surge in support over the next two years as the British economy went through a period of deflation that culminated in a devaluation, at the same time that the merging of businesses was encouraged. Unemployment rose significantly, but when Wilson called a general election for June 1970, the opinion polls all pointed towards a third successive Labour victory. It was a major surprise when the Conservatives won with a majority of 30 seats.
Heath's government initially enjoyed a strong economy and relatively low unemployment, and on 1 January 1973 the United Kingdom became a member state of the European Communities, principally the European Economic Community. But then came the 1973 oil crisis, and just before Christmas, Heath declared a three-day week in which the use of offices, factories and most public buildings was reduced to three days a week. He also faced a battle with the unions over pay freezes and restraints, which sparked a rise in strikes.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Heath ministry” is government of the United Kingdom. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Heath, ministry and Government, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5693589. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1974, 1965 and 1973.
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This entry incorporates text from “Heath ministry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.