<p>Sir Edward Heath KG MBE MP (1916-2005) was the first leader of the Conservative Party to come from a working-class background; he was also the first leader to be elected by the party's MPs, rather than 'emerging'. His time as Prime Minister (1970-74) was marked by industrial unrest, an upsurge of violence in Northern Ireland and severe economic turbulence, exacerbated by a world oil crisis. He was famously responsible for taking...