TED HEATH was not an easy man, but he was a serious statesman and he left a bigger mark on history than many prime ministers who served longer and won more general elections.

His decision to take Britain into the European Economic Community in 1972 is one of the most important historic decisions of the second half of the 20th century, comparable with Clement Attlee’s to give independence to India. It showed at their best his virtues of energy, courage and determination — virtues he shared with his great rival Margaret Thatcher.

Like almost everyone else who knew him, my relationship was shaped by the contour of his career. I first met him in 1950, when he came down to Oxford to speak to a Conservative study group on defence. He had been, before the war, to Balliol which was my own college, had been president of the Oxford Union Society, had served what was then called “a good war” and was the candidate for Old Bexley, the seat he won at the general election later that year.

I was impressed by Ted Heath as a promising younger Conservative. He was friendly and relaxed with the undergraduates. We kept in touch as acquaintances: we saw each other more often after 1954 when I was acting as lobby correspondent for the Financial Times and he was deputy chief whip. From 1955, when he was appointed Chief Whip, his career soared. He succeeded Alex Douglas-Home as Leader of the Opposition in 1965, lost the general election of 1966 to Harold Wilson, unexpectedly won the 1970 election and was Prime Minister until 1974.

From 1954 until 1975, when he lost the leadership of his party to Margaret Thatcher, we were good, but professional, friends. It is always difficult to judge how close such friendships are, but I saw more of him personally than of the other leading Conservatives of his particular generation, with the exception of Reginald Maudling.

I certainly have very pleasant memories of that period. In 1966 Ted Heath stayed with us in Somerset when he had a speaking engagement in the area. He was a charming guest: I remember him playing on the piano some old sheet music we had in the house, The Lass of Richmond Hill. When he had become Prime Minister he invited us as a family down to Chequers, and fed Thomas and Jacob, then small boys, on Garibaldi biscuits.

When I became Editor of The Times in 1967 I had easy access to him as Leader of the Opposition, and subsequently as Prime Minister, but I did not want to commit the paper too closely to any party leader. The Times was, however, a strong supporter of his European policy, and in the early 1970s I must have seen him fairly often on European matters.

The general election of February 1974 was fought on the issues of the miners’ strike and with “Who governs Britain?” The Times again supported Ted Heath: he lost — but narrowly. Ted Heath himself judged other people on policies and results. Part of his unhappiness in later years may have come from applying his own tough standards to himself. He certainly dominated his own party, but he lost three out of the four general elections that he fought. He achieved his major objective, of taking Britain into Europe. He was, in my view, right to face up to trade union militancy, but he was defeated by the miners. Margaret Thatcher’s victory, ten years later, may have been made possible by the battle of 1973-74.

Ted Heath was in some ways too close to being the civil servant he might have become. He was a great Whip, but not a great politician. He once said — almost the opposite of the truth — that “politics is 90 per cent administration”: successful politics is closer to being 90 per cent inspiration. Apart from Europe, he failed to inspire his party or his Government.

In 1975, after two election defeats in the previous year, the Conservatives were looking for a new leader. I remember Ted Heath again coming down to Somerset, to stay with William Waldegrave and his parents. I was invited across for a business dinner to put to Mr Heath my economic views which, by then, were monetarist. He would not accept them, but had nothing else to offer which might bring inflation under control.

We had a good argument — he never minded arguing policy in those days — and I said to him that he would have to develop a convincing policy on inflation, if he were to remain leader. In the event, Margaret Thatcher was chosen, though I, rather weak-mindedly, supported Willie Whitelaw, the compromise candidate. I soon found that Margaret Thatcher was much closer to the economic views I had already formed.

Ted Heath then entered into what was called “The Great Sulk”. I continued to see him, but his friendships with those who shared Margaret Thatcher’s views tended to drop away. This was before European policy came between them — that belongs to the later 1980s. She was probably quite right to see that he could never be a member of her Cabinet. They were too like each other in some ways, and too unlike in their policies.

Inevitably I came to see less of Ted Heath. I am glad that we had a meeting, 20 years later, which was a reconciliation. We had only had one thumping row, which occurred, of all unusual settings, when we were dining together at Yehudi Menuhin’s 80th birthday party. The Queen was present.

Our argument, conducted across Lady Carina Frost, concerned a criticism I had made of Ted Heath for his attack on Chris Patten as Governor of Hong Kong. Ted Heath supported China, and I had taken the democratic side of that argument. He had denounced me forcefully. We met again a couple of months later: he patted the chair next to him and insisted that I sit by him for a brief chat.

We parted friends, and remained so when we met subsequently.

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