Sir Edward Heath (1916-2005) was a Conservative politician, sailor, musician, and author. He was born at Broadstairs, Kent, and educated at Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate before attending Balliol College, Oxford (1935-1939) as a commoner, subsequently winning the organ scholarship. He graduated with a second class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1939. Whilst at Oxford he was both President of the Oxford University Conservative Association (1937-1938) and President of the Oxford Union (1938-1939).

Following a debating tour of the United States (1939-1940) Heath was called up for military service and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery, serving in Liverpool, Normandy and Germany. He left the army as a Lieutenant-Colonel, though joined the Honourable Artillery Company, a territorial regiment, and remained active in this throughout the 1950s.

After the War Heath worked as a civil servant at the Air Ministry (1946-1947) but was required to resign from this post after being selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bexley. He then worked as news editor of the Church Times (1948-1949) and at the merchant bankers Brown, Shipley & Co (1949-1950) until his election to Parliament at the 1950 General Election.

He was appointed as an Opposition Whip by Winston Churchill (1951), becoming joint Deputy Chief Whip (1952), sole Deputy Chief Whip (1953) and, under Eden, Chief Whip (1955). he joined the Cabinet following the 1959 General Election when Macmillan appointed him Minister of Labour. The following year he was moved to the Foreign Office (1960-1963) with the formal title of Lord Privy Seal (Home, the Foreign Secretary being in the Lords), with responsibility for overseeing the UK's first attempt to join the European Economic Community (EEC). Under Douglas-Home, Heath was made President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development (1963-1964), before becoming Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964-1965) after the Conservatives lost the 1964 General Election.

Heath won the leadership election in 1965 to become Leader of the Conservative Party and set about rebuilding the Party for return to government, overseeing a major policy review prior to, and beyond the 1966 General Election. As Prime Minister (1970-1974) Heath's government had to contend with a worsening economic outlook and deteriorating industrial relations, which effectively brought about the reversal of flagship policies such as the National Industrial Relations Court, as well as a rise in Welsh and Scottish nationalism. Attempting to pacify Northern Ireland following the outbreak of The Troubles, Heath's Sunningdale Agreement (1973) was repudiated by the Ulster Unionist Party, and he was personally targeted by the IRA. Internationally, Heath achieved more of his goals, negotiating the UK's entry into the EEC (1973), and improving relations with China.

Failing to win an overall majority in the February 1974 General Election, or bring coalition negotiations to a successful conclusion, Heath resigned as Prime Minister in March 1974. He remained as Party Leader, but failed to win the October 1974 General Election. Although the leadership selection rules at the time did not allow for a challenge to an incumbent leader, Heath agreed to this being changed, and put himself up for re-election in February 1975 in an attempt to assert his authority, but was defeated by Margaret Thatcher. He remained as a backbench MP until 2001 – from 1992 as the longest-serving MP or 'Father of the House' - taking an active part in the 1975 referendum campaign on the UK's continued membership of the EEC, and maintaining an opposition to the monetarist policies of Margaret Thatcher throughout the 1980s.

Outside of Parliament, Heath had developed an aptitude for music in childhood. As Organ Scholar at Balliol, Heath played daily in the college chapel, and was a member of both the Oxford Bach Choir and the Balliol Choral Society. He attended concerts regularly throughout his career, often conducting orchestras himself, even as Prime Minister. Heath also developed an interest in sailing, sailing regularly at weekends in his yacht Morning Cloud and captaining the British team to victory in the Admiral's Cup as Prime Minister in 1971.

Following his premiership, Heath developed substantial business interests and took on various fee-paying consultancy roles, which mostly paid him income through Dumpton Gap, his private holding company. These included the accountancy firm Arthur Andersen, the Chinese shipping firm China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), the Saudi Arabian think tank Centre for Global Energy Studies, investment fund Dresdener Kleinwort Benson, Commercial General Union's China Index Fund, and the International Advisory Council of International Reporting Information Systems.

For more detail see entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.