Lord Michael Heseltine

We welcome Michael Heseltine to Ludlow Assembly Rooms, where he will be delving into the defining moments of his remarkable career, reflecting on the challenges and triumphs of public life and sharing his vision for Britain’s future. In conversation with Peter Florence, this promises to be a candid, wide-ranging and thought-provoking evening with one of the most influential political figures of the past half-century.  

Michael Heseltine was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001. He was a Cabinet minister in various departments between 1979 and 1986 and between 1990 and 1997. He was Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997. He is founder of the Haymarket Group, a privately owned media company.   

In 2015, Lord Heseltine was appointed by the government as an adviser to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. His work for the government came to an end in 2017. In 2018, he published his reply to the government’s Industrial Strategy Green Paper, ‘Industrial Strategy’. He was president of The European Movement from June 2019 to November 2024. Lord Heseltine is an enthusiastic gardener and is a vice president of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

When Michael Heseltine wrote his acclaimed autobiography Life in the Jungle, he assumed his political career was over. He returned to Haymarket, his publishing business, intending to explore more of the world and pursue more vigorously his passions outside politics. That assumption, however, was wrong. David Cameron called him, tentatively at first but gradually with increased responsibility, back to the corridors of power. 

This second memoir is a potpourri of reminiscences of Heseltine’s youth, early adulthood and previously unexplored aspects of his stellar political career. Among much else, his account of finding his home, creating his garden and renowned arboretum and regenerating his village makes fascinating and compelling reading. 

But the main reason for Heseltine taking up his pen again has been to look back on the fundamental changes he was able to mastermind while in power and to set out clearly and forcefully the policies that are still urgently needed to continue to unite the country by driving growth, increasing prosperity and restoring hope. 

“Michael Heseltine’s restless, creative mind puts other politicians to shame – as does this priceless testimony of public service.” Patrick Maguire, columnist, The Times