He got elected in 1970 on the basis that he was a tough, free-market reformer. He hosted a conference at Selsdon Park Hotel at which this policy was agreed. A new phrase was coined: "Selsdon Man". But when he actually got into power, it became clear that this was a false prospectus. He went in for laws to control wage rises and gave tax-payers' money to failing industries. He was as much of a 'statist' as members of the Labour Party, to the point that Tony Benn was delighted that he was doing 'spadework for socialism'. Either he was never truly the reformer he claimed to be or else he funked it when faced with a bumpy ride.

He regarded his greatest achievement as that of taking Britain into what was then called 'The Common Market'. That was a second false prospectus. He knew and intended that this 'Common Market' should develop into something far more all-embracing. He expected that Britain should take part in monetary union - in other words should join a common European currency - by 1980. But he kept jolly quiet about this, giving the impression that we would hardly lose anything in the way of national sovereignty. That 'Common Market' has gone on acquiring power to the point now where it even tells us whether or not we are to be allowed to have vitamin supplements in our shops.

He improved relations with Mao's communist China. As a political act, that was probably sensible. But he took it further than that, becoming excessively friendly over the years with the leaders of this foul regime which was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people and ruthlessly subjugated Tibet. It is hard to resist the idea that he was influenced by the way the Chinese leadership flattered him. His vanity may have undermined a proper sense of what was good and decent.

One of his greatest errors in government is hard to dispute. He was concerned, quite rightly, that unemployment was rising. In response, he let credit rip. His Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anthony Barber, kept down interest rates and let money flow in unprecedented quantities. The money caused no reform of industry, of course. It just sloshed into banking and property. House prices went crazy. Heath and Barber were responsible for setting off the great inflation of the 1970s which ruined the living standards of many elderly people reliant on fixed incomes. The value of their monthly pensions and their bank interest was destroyed. This was a terrible thing for him to have done. But it got worse.

He was in confrontation with the trade unions and managed it badly. He tried to reach accommodation with them. He ended up in confrontation. Admittedly his problems were hugely exacerbated by the quadrupling of the price of oil. We ended up with the three-day week when businesses were only meant to operate on a part-time basis. It is hard, even for those of us who were there, to remember just how bad it got.

His fight with the mining unions was unsuccessful. Unlike Nigel Lawson in the 1980s, he did not build up stocks of coal at the power stations before taking them on. He then called an election. It is often said that this election was fought on the basis of 'who rules the country - the unions or the government?'. But I remember that it was not put as plainly or bravely as that, more's the pity. The idea was merely implied.

So Heath lost that election and, indeed, the one after - making an overall score of elections won: 1, elections lost: 3. Not good.

His failure as prime minister let in the most useless government to have held power in Britain in all the years since the second world war. The miners were bought off with enormous amounts of other people's money. Inflation soared even further to over 27 per cent at the peak. We had to borrow wholesale from other countries to the point where they refused to lend more unless the government changed its ways. We went into a terrible recession and political turmoil. It got so bad that the best known financier of the time advised people that the best investments were guns and baked beans. Not all of this was Heath's fault of course, but if he had not made such a mess of his time in office, it might never have happened. He played a major role in making the 1970s Britain's worst decade in the second half of the twentieth century.

Meanwhile, he was defeated by Margaret Thatcher in a contest for the leadership of the Conservative Party. He responded by sniping and sneering at her for the rest of his life. He was not big enough to let it go. Lady Thatcher, in her time in office, cleared up many of the problems that he had helped create. After she left office, she was always polite about him. She has been generous again after his death, calling him a 'political giant' and saying 'we are all in his debt'. Edward Heath was clever, undoubtedly and multi-talented, too. But frankly the magnanimity Lady Thatcher has shown towards him is more than he deserved.

(This is an unedited version of an article which appears in today's Daily Express.)