British MP Norman Tebbit at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton, October 15,1971. Photo: Getty Images
Conservative politician Norman Tebbit was a key ally of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in her free-market transformation of Britain. Tebbit was known for his role tackling the power of Britain’s trade unions during the 1980s, and for his socially conservative and free-market views. London born and bred, Tebbit was a pilot before entering politics. Elected as MP for Epping, he held Chingford from 1974-92, when he entered the Lords as Baron Tebbit, of Chingford. His Cabinet posts included president of the Board of Trade and Minister of State for Industry. A political bruiser known for no-holds-barred attacks on the opposition, Tebbit was nicknamed the "Chingford skinhead" by opponents. Michael Foot, who led the Labour Party in the 1980s, called him a "semi-house-trained polecat". However, even Tebbit’s critics praised his stoic response to the Irish Republican Army bombing of Brighton’s Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party conference in 1984. Five people were killed in the bombing, an attempt to kill Thatcher. Tebbit was seriously wounded and his wife Margaret was paralysed from the neck down. Norman Tebbit died on July 7 aged 94. — Allied Media/agencies
