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Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC (born 21 March 1933) is a Welsh 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. Following Geoffrey Howe's resignation speech in November 1990, Heseltine challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party, polling well enough to deny her an outright victory on the first ballot. He lost to John Major on the second ballot. Major returned Heseltine to the Cabinet. As a key ally of Major, Heseltine rose to become President of the Board of Trade and, from 1995, Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State. He declined to seek the leadership of the party following Major's 1997 election defeat, but remained a vocal advocate for modernisation in the party. Heseltine was seen as a "One Nation" Tory, epitomised by his support for the regeneration of the City of Liverpool, at a time when it was facing economic collapse. The subsequent transformation of Liverpool, with his support, saw Heseltine having the award of Freeman of the City of Liverpool bestowed upon him in 2012. ==Early life== Michael Heseltine was born in Swansea in Wales and is a distant descendant of Charles Dibdin (from whom one of his middle names was taken). His mother, Eileen Ray (Pridmore), originated in West Wales. His father's ancestors were farm labourers in Pembrey. His maternal great-grandfather worked at the Swansea docks (as a result, Heseltine was latterly made an honorary member of the Swansea Dockers Club). His maternal grandfather, James Pridmore, founded West Glamorgan Collieries Ltd, a short-lived company that briefly worked two small mines on the outskirts of Swansea (1919–21). Heseltine was brought up in relative luxury at No. 1, Uplands Crescent (now No. 5). He enjoyed angling in Brynmill Park and won a junior competition.〔BBC Wales ''Coming Home'' - 29 September 2008〕 He was educated at Shrewsbury School.〔Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, ISBN 0-340-73915-0, p13-25〕 He campaigned briefly as a volunteer in the October 1951 General Election before going up to Pembroke College, Oxford, where, in frustration at his inability to be elected to the committee of the Oxford University Conservative Association, he founded the breakaway Blue Ribbon Club. Julian Critchley recounts a story from his student days of how he plotted his future on the back of an envelope, a future that would culminate as Prime Minister in the 1990s. A more detailed apocryphal version has him writing down: 'millionaire 25, cabinet member 35, party leader 45, prime minister 55'.〔Andrew Marr, ''A History of Modern Britain (2009) p 418〕 He became a millionaire and was a member of the shadow cabinet from the age of 41 but did not manage to become Party Leader or Prime Minister. Heseltine's biographers Michael Crick and Julian Critchley recount how, despite not having an innate gift for public speaking, he became a strong orator through much practice which included talking in front of a mirror, listening to tape recordings of speeches by television administrator Charles Hill, and taking voice-coaching lessons from a vicar's wife. In the 1970s and 1980s Heseltine's conference speech was often to be the highlight of the Conservative Party Conference despite his views being well to the left of the then leader Margaret Thatcher. He was eventually elected to the committee of the Oxford Union after five terms at the University. In his third year (1953-4), having challenged unsuccessfully for the Presidency the previous summer, he served in top place on the committee, then as Secretary, and then Treasurer. During this last post he reopened the Union cellars for business and persuaded the visiting Sir Bernard and Lady Docker to contribute to the considerable cost. After graduating with a second-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, described by his own tutor as "a great and undeserved triumph", he was permitted to stay on for an extra term to serve as President of the Oxford Union for Michaelmas term 1954 having been elected with the assistance of leading Oxford socialists Anthony Howard and Jeremy Isaacs.〔Crick, p 357〕〔Michael Heseltine, ''Life in the Jungle'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, ISBN 0-340-73915-0, p25-39〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Heseltine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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