Election aftermath
Sir: Your admirable assessment of the Conservative Party (October 10), the verdict of which has been supported by the electorate, calls into question the leadership of Edward Heath. If we accept the reasoning of Mr Powell, that the Common Market is the supreme issue, to which all else must be subor dinated, then the election result must be deemed satisfactory; yet to most of us in the Party, however strongly we may feel about the way in which we were dragged into the EEC two years ago, the supreme issue is the avoidance of rule by a Labour government committed to socialist policies.
It is the supreme indictment of Mr Heath's leadership that our great Party, the oldest and most successful conservative force in Europe, has suffered le less than ten years three electoral defeats, of which two were in close succession. Perhaps in spite of his owe efforts, Mr Wilson has achieved the rare distinction of turning the Labour Parte into the natural governing party of the United Kingdon, at a time when its lunatic left is stronger than ever before. Mr Heath may well have resigned before the week is out; if that is so, the Party he has led cannot be accused Of disloyalty, for it has followed him faithfully and unquestioningly through four general election campaigns. Common sense suggests that the time is due for a refreshing change, brought about perhaps by a leader drawn from the back-benches, in the absence of a man on the front bench who commands universal acceptance. Indeed, it is another savage indictment of Mr Heath's regime that so many fine men, excluded from the charmed circle, have been unable to find an outlet for their talents over the past nine years.
Mr Heath may now remember the lines of John Donne, "And therefore never send to know for
whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Nigel Saul Universities Group, Hertford College, Oxford.
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