Robert Shepherd (1) (1949–)

When Iain Macleod suffered a fatal heart attack on 20 July 1970, Britain’s Conservatives lost one of the leading political figures of his generation. Having made a name for himself as one of the party’s most gifted speakers, he had enjoyed a rapid ascent to office after his election to the House of Commons in 1950. As a leading member of the Conservatives’ “One Nation” group, he served successfully as both Minister of Housing and then as Colonial Secretary during a period of rapid change at home and abroad. And even after his efforts for the party leadership in 1965 were thwarted by circumstances, Macleod was preparing for a transformative turn as the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the newly elected government of Edward Heath when his sudden death denied him the opportunity to achieve his vision of a better Britain.

That Macleod was someone who never quite filled his full potential is a theme of Robert Shepherd’s that emerges early in his account of his life and career. The son of a Highland Scottish doctor, young Iain enjoyed an idyllic childhood wandering the countryside where his family lived. After disappointing his father with a poor performance at Cambridge, Macleod led an indulgent existence as a playboy and card sharp, becoming especially notable as a bridge player. Though Macleod continued to enjoy a leisurely existence even after joining the army during the Second World War, his experiences gradually honed his ambition to do more with his life.

Upon the end of the war Macleod launched his career in politics by joining the Conservative Research Department, where he soon developed an expertise in such areas as housing, health, and social policy. These reflected Macleod’s genuine interest in social amelioration, one that Shepherd traces to his time spent following his father on house calls to his poor and working-class patients and which placed him in the emerging One Nation collection of liberal Tories. Though it was a fortuitous debate performance in the House of Commons soon after his election that brought him to Winston Churchill’s attention, Macleod’s interest in social issues helped him to stand out from the majority of the Conservative Party, and was undoubtedly a factor in his appointment to serve as Minister of Health in 1952.

As the decade wore on Macleod’s stock rose rapidly within the Conservative Party. After seven years in office, first as Minister of Health and then as Minister of Labor and National Service, Macleod became Colonial Secretary in October 1959. This was in many respects the high point of Macleod’s career in office, and Shepherd gives this period due attention. While Macleod failed in his self-declared effort to become “the last Colonial Secretary”, he advanced decolonization in Africa and the West Indies far further than anyone imagined it could. In doing so, he was probably the last British politician who was more important to the histories of the countries that emerged from the colonies than that of his own.

Macleod’s determination to wind down the British empire earned him many enemies on the right wing of his own party. This damaged his prospects of becoming prime minister considerably, as did Macleod’s timing. Shepherd defends Macleod effectively from the charges that he undermined Rab Butler’s efforts to succeed Harold Macmillan in 1963, viewing his resignation as Leader of the House and chairman of the Conservative Party over the way in which Alec Douglas-Home was chosen as driven by principled outrage. This left Macleod poorly positioned for the next leadership contest just two years later, when Douglas-Home resigned from the party leadership in the aftermath of his defeat in the 1964 general election. With the possibility of ever becoming prime minister increasingly remote, Macleod was determined to make the most of the opportunity Heath gave him to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer, only to have his poor health bring a premature end to his career.

Though Shepherd hypothesizes on what might have happened had Macleod lived longer, his speculation speaks more to his admiration for his subject than it does to anything else. This partisanship is both one of the book’s greatest strengths and its most glaring weakness, as Shepherd’s focus on Macleod’s public career allows him to avoid having to address Macleod’s messy personal life and the role his copious drinking may have played in his early demise. Nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine a better biography of Macleod ever being written, thanks to Shepherd’s diligent research and his skills as a writer. As a tribute to himself and his achievements Macleod could hardly have asked for better.… (mais)