Poll and Attack From an Intraparty Foe Further Dampen Thatcher’s Week

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher received a double dose of bad news Saturday with a thinly veiled attack from her closest Conservative Party rival and a new poll showing most voters believe she should resign.

Michael Heseltine, former defense secretary who stormed out of Thatcher’s Cabinet in 1986 after a row over the sale of a financially troubled helicopter manufacturer, lambasted her attitude toward the European Community, warning that mistakes could propel the Conservative Party from office.

In a swipe at the prime minister’s autocratic leadership style, he said: “There is only one way to preside over and lead a democratic political party, and that is to pay proper regard to the myriad of opinions . . . that go to make up its support.”

Opposition politicians interpreted Heseltine’s remarks as a challenge to Thatcher’s leadership, which appears to be under greater threat than at any time during her 11 years in office.

The surprise resignation Thursday of Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe in a row over Thatcher’s resistance to European integration prompted a chorus of opposition demands for her to step down. Even some Conservative members of Parliament called for her leadership to be put to a test of support.

Adding to her troubles, a new poll appearing in the Sunday Independent newspaper shows that 64% of British voters want Thatcher to step down before the next general election, due by mid-1992.

The poll found only 23% of voters are happy with the way Thatcher is doing her job--one of the lowest approval ratings ever for a prime minister.