The Westland affair in 1985–86 was an episode in which Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and her Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Heseltine, went public over a cabinet dispute with questions raised about whether the conventions of cabinet government were being observed and about the integrity of senior politicians.
The argument was over the future of Westland Helicopters, Britain's last helicopter manufacturer, which was to be the subject of a rescue bid. The Defence Secretary, Heseltine, favoured a European solution, integrating Westland with a consortium including British Aerospace (BAe), Italian (Agusta) and French companies. Thatcher and Trade and Industry Secretary Leon Brittan, while ostensibly maintaining a neutral stance, wanted to see Westland merge with Sikorsky, an American company.
Heseltine refused to accept Thatcher's choice and claimed that Thatcher had refused to allow a free ministerial discussion of the matter, even suggesting that she had lied about cancelling a scheduled meeting. In January 1986, when he was ordered to cease campaigning for his European consortium, he resigned and walked out of a Cabinet meeting. Brittan was then forced to resign for having ordered the leaking to the press of a confidential legal letter critical of Heseltine, and for his lack of candour to the House of Commons about his efforts to persuade BAe to withdraw from Heseltine's consortium.
Thatcher's survival as Prime Minister briefly appeared in question, but she rode out the crisis. The episode nonetheless was an embarrassment to the Conservative Thatcher government and undermined her reputation.[1]
The Westlandaffair in 1985–86 was an episode in which Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and her Secretary of State for Defence...
Westland or Westlands may refer to: Westlands, Nairobi, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area...
solution, and resigned spectacularly after a cabinet row to create the WestlandAffair. The resultant disputes within the Conservative Party resulted in the...
Nuclear Disarmament. He resigned from the Cabinet in 1986 over the Westlandaffair and returned to the backbenches, becoming a vocal critic of Thatcher...
preference for defence ties with the United States was demonstrated in the Westlandaffair when, despite ostensibly maintaining a neutral stance, she and Trade...
governments and politicians have sought to play matchmaker, as seen in the Westlandaffair. In the United States, in addition to the concern of maintaining national...
demonstrated in the Westlandaffair of 1985–86 when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer Westland to refuse a takeover...
Margaret Thatcher over the Westlandaffair. Heseltine walked out of a meeting at Number 10 as his views on the future of the Westland helicopter company were...
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters...
growing over the latter years of her tenure, particularly following the Westlandaffair. There were differences within the Cabinet over Thatcher's perceived...
calls from some Labour MPs for there to be a new inquiry into the Westlandaffair. Ingham was knighted on Thatcher's resignation – and retirement – in...
in the UK civil service from 1975 to 1987. She was involved in the Westlandaffair as she was the chief information officer at the Department of Trade...
him in the Cabinet. During the Westlandaffair Tebbit was against the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation taking over Westland Aircraft. In 1986, Tebbit opposed...
1984 and the miners' strike in 1984–85. Sir Charles Powell, the foreign affairs private secretary to the Prime Minister (1984–1991 and 1996), described...
and capacity for negotiation. Their differences were dated to the WestlandAffair in 1986, when senior ministers almost forced her to resign, according...
Cabinet 2021 Tunisian political crisis War cabinet crisis, May 1940 Westlandaffair 2018 British cabinet reshuffle July 2022 United Kingdom government...
In January 1986 a proposed sale of Westland Helicopters to the US Sikorsky Aircraft group led to the Westlandaffair, a crisis in the Thatcher government...
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