Michael Heseltine has never been a ‘clubbable Tory’. To his lasting regret, he missed out on the top job in British politics that he so longed for.
At the age of 90, he is still one step ahead. He is tall and slim. His leonine, once golden mane is now snow white, but still stylishly swept back.
Shrewsbury and Oxford-educated Heseltine is under no illusions that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. He says, “I’ve always been a controversial figure, I have views and I’ve expressed them.”
A dash for: Lord Heseltine at his home in Belgravia, London
Heseltine was seen by many as Margaret Thatcher’s successor when she left Downing Street in 1990, but he lost to John Major in the Tory leadership contest. However, he continued as his deputy prime minister.
He’s honest about missing out, but maybe there’s a hint of regret that he didn’t “play the game” in the Commons bars and tearooms. “I was never in the tea rooms,” he says. “I was seen as a divisive character.”
Recalled by David Cameron in 2010, the fiery Remainer then spectacularly fell out with the party over Brexit. He had the whip suspended in 2019 after saying he would support the Liberal Democrats in the European elections.
At his age, the multimillionaire publishing entrepreneur is as fiery as ever.
He believes the grownups are back in charge under Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt after Liz Truss’s interlude, adding that much needs to be done to show the voting public that the Tories are still at the cutting edge after 13 years in government should be power.
“Anyone who thinks this is a perfect business environment is wrong,” he says. “But we’ve always had the talent. It’s a great country.’
I have always been a controversial figure
The economic climate is showing some signs of improvement. Sunak looks set to meet its 5 percent inflation target by the end of the year and the economy is growing faster than rivals Germany and Italy.
“I think another rate hike is on the way,” he says.
He lists a large number of problems to be overcome, starting with the banks.
In his long career he has been a passionate champion of many goals. The latest of these is the Daily Mail’s campaign to get banks to pass on better savings rates to their customers now that interest rates are skyrocketing. This is a problem that particularly affects many older voters.
“It’s a scandal,” he says. ‘It’s really serious. Those with loans pay significant sums of money and those with cash balances get ridiculous sums. Those with deposits deserve a good whack.”
Chancellor Hunt has called the banks to Downing Street to deal with the problem, while Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has gone a step further and introduced a windfall tax for lenders.
Power couple: Heseltine was seen by some as Thatcher’s successor
When it comes to Sunak’s plans to deregulate the city – Big Bang 2.0 – Hezza urges caution. The financial crisis in 2008 wreaked havoc and much of the regulation that has been put in place since then is considered essential by many.
The original Big Bang took place in the 1980s under Thatcher.
“What she did was let the foreigners into a gentlemen’s club and the City transformed,” says Heseltine. “But don’t forget that regulation is the difference between the jungle and civilization.”
Leaning back in his armchair in London’s posh Belgravia district, surrounded by antiques and sumptuous cream carpets, Heseltine rattles almost regally through 60 years of modern British political history. In addition to his home in London, he owns Thenford House in Northamptonshire, a sprawling country house.
His wife Anne pops in and out with coffee, tea and biscuits. She likes to read the newspaper on the sofa across from us while we chat and discreetly watches the proceedings.
Speaking of the current high tax environment, Heseltine says he feels the pain of the country’s entrepreneurs. Unlike most politicians, he has first-hand experience.
The corporate tax rate currently stands at 25 percent, the highest level in more than a decade.
He started Haymarket – owner of What Car, Management Today and AI Week – in 1957, and turned it into a publishing triumph. Last year the company – where his son Rupert is now chairman – posted a turnover of £165.9 million and a profit of £11.2 million.
We have talent – it’s a great country
“It’s never easy running a small business, but it’s always fun,” Heseltine says as his eyes light up. “Tax is annoying, but you have to pay it.”
He says tax cuts are not possible given the high spending during the pandemic. “Tax cuts are politically popular, but there is a huge public debt after Covid.”
We are touching Brexit. It’s no secret that it’s an abomination to him. “The single market is historically perhaps one of the most extraordinary successful concepts ever developed by mankind,” he says.
But his abiding passion is the need for Britain to create a credible industrial strategy.
He firmly believes that the state and business must work together so that the UK can make progress in green technology and develop the industries of the future, including hydrogen and battery plants.
“We need a public-private partnership,” he says. “Anyone who thinks we can leave it to the market is talking nonsense.” He points to the US Inflation Reduction Act, which he believes is transforming the world’s largest economy.
He also wants more power devolved to the regions so that they can take control of their own individual strategies. “It’s up to Manchester and Liverpool to come up with their own plans,” he says. “But they need to be shaken up.”
He believes the UK should stop selling all of its best and most valuable companies to foreign buyers to keep jobs and innovation in Britain. He believes the government should have the power to veto takeovers if necessary.
In recent years, defense giants Cobham and Ultra have been sold to private equity – something he says never would have happened when he was Secretary of Defense.
It is not surprising that he is so passionate about using business to solve some of Britain’s social problems. In the 1980s he was the driving force behind the early development of Canary Wharf and the rejuvenation of Liverpool.
More recently, he wrote a groundbreaking report on the recovery of economic growth in Teesside in the wake of the 2015 steel closure, which led to an ambitious plan to bring thousands of green energy jobs to the former steel mill.
He says he wants his legacy to continue, adding that the Conservatives need to do more to level up to retain the Red Wall seats won in the 2019 general election.
“It’s been way too slow,” he says. ‘There is currently no dynamism behind the process.’
But the One Nation Tory remains optimistic. “Virtually every major rejuvenation innovation in this country has been led by the conservatives,” he says. “All the initiatives I know of have been led by Tories.” He says Mayors Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Midlands are good examples of those carrying on this Tory tradition.
Time flies and the hour he has assigned me in his busy schedule is over in the blink of an eye. And with that, Anne takes the grandee to lunch. He may be in his tenth decade, but Hezza has no desire to slow down.
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