Stonehenge
Former Prime Minister, John Major delivered the inaugural Edward Heath Lecture in Salisbury Guildhall on Wednesday 17 June to an invited audience of 200 people. The
theme of this year’s lecture was ‘The Meaning and Lessons of Magna Carta Today’.
The Trustees of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation established the lecture series as an opportunity for respected speakers to explore subjects of importance to
Sir Edward including those of relevance to his interests and legacy.
Sir John said: “I was delighted to be invited to deliver the first Edward Heath Lecture in Salisbury, the city that he loved and made his home, and in the 50th
anniversary year of his winning the Conservative Party leadership. As our first leader to come from a non-privileged background, his election marked an important step
change for our Party.
As Prime Minister, at what was a very difficult time for Britain, Sir Edward’s central legacy was entry into the European Common Market. But his administration was
also marked out by his courageous, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to reform Britain’s destructive industrial relations and to bring power sharing to Northern
Ireland.”
Sir John’s visit to Salisbury began in the afternoon with a tour of Edward Heath’s former Cathedral Close home, Arundells. Sir
John was welcomed to the house by a short recital by senior boys from Bishop Wordsworth’s School, using Sir Edward’s Steinway piano.
Sir John toured the house and gardens before visiting the Magna Carta in Salisbury Cathedral.
