Party Management

The aim of this chapter is to assess how effective Heath was at internal management within the Conservative Party. The chapter considers Heath in relation to (a) the organisational infrastructure of the party and (b) the maintenance of good relations and discipline within the parliamentary party. The chapter identifies how in terms of internal management party leaders can adopt either a close or distant approach in terms of how they communicate and engage within their own party. That Heath adopted a distant approach to internal management would ensure that a build-up of resentments and enemies gathered apace, ultimately contributing to the mobilisation of forces that led to his removal from the party leadership