Heath's Leadership Will Be Criticised

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31187, 11 October 1966, Page 17

Heath's Leadership Will Be Criticised

(N.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, October 10. The Conservative Opposition leader, Mr Edward Heath, will face criticism of his leadership and a possible row over Rhodesia at the party’s annual conference next week.

Mr Heath, aged 50, is taking the unprecedented step of personally answering a debate on the party’s record in Opposition during the four-day conference which opens at Blackpool on Wednesday. A host of critical resolutions have been put forward by the party’s rank and file—most of them demanding a more vigorous attack in Parliament on the Prime Minister, Mr Wilson, and his Labour administration. Conservative leaders claim this shows high morale among the party’s supporters in spite of their heavy defeat by Labour in the General Election last March. “Continuing Doubts” But political observers believe it also reflects continuing doubts about the party’s choice of Mr Heath as leader 15 months ago. Opinion polls have shown Mr Heath has consistently failed to win approval of the voters, and though there is as yet no direct challenge to his leadership, many Conservative supporters are showing signs of restiveness. Within the party, compari-

sons have been made with the former Commonwealth Secretary, Mr Duncan Sandys, who has seized the headlines with a number of forthright statements since Mr Heath dropped him from the Conservative shadow Cabinet early this year. Mr Heath’s critics also regret his failure to match Mr Wilson’s political astuteness, which was demonstrated once again when he won acceptance of unpopular economic and foreign policies at Labour’s annual conference which ended yesterday. Two Main Issues Apart from dissatisfaction with his performance as party leader, Mr Heath has to face two main issues next week. One is an emergency’ debate on the Rhodesia crisis, which split the party wide open at its conference a year ago before Mr lan Smith’s regime seized independence from Britain. The terms of the Rhodesia resolution are not yet known but it could again threaten the unity of a party the members of which are traditionally more sympathetic towards the white-dominated colonies. Mr Heath began by backing the Government's economic sanctions campaign against Rhodesia, but he has recently moved to satisfy his

Right-wing rebels by taking a more critical line on Mr Wilson’s handling of the crisis. The other issue is a continuation of a campaign to switch the emphasis of the Conservatives’ traditional global approach to foreign affairs towards Mr Heath’s

aim of eventual British membership of the European Common Market. Mr Heath began this revival towards pro-European thinking among delegates at last year’s conference, and intensified the switch during the spring election campaign. But he has still to win wholehearted support from all his party’s rank and file.