NEWS ANALYSIS : Cool, Aloof John Redwood Adds Fire to British Politics

At first glance--or even after a longer look--John Redwood would seem an unlikely candidate to become leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, an ascension that would mean he would first have to unseat Prime Minister John Major.

Redwood is cool, aloof, intellectual, almost arrogant, a man with few friends, not given to political backslapping; even his colleagues in the Major government and acquaintances in the House of Commons find behind Redwood’s laser-like stare and tight smile something of an enigma.

Yet this right-wing true-believer in the cold realities of the free market in all areas of life has caused an uproar in British politics this week with his surprise decision to run against Major for the party leadership.

Few political observers give him a realistic chance of becoming prime minister, since Redwood’s style is hardly calculated to appeal to the clubby Tory members of Parliament who will decide on his present political aspirations or, indeed, to the voters in the nation at large who will decide his ultimate political fate.

But Redwood’s decision to challenge Major may force the prime minister into a second ballot against more formidable foes. It may even cause Major to step down from his post, as happened with his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, in November, 1990.

In a series of news conferences this week, Redwood, who resigned as Cabinet minister for Wales, has set out a conservative philosophy that boils down to lower taxes, less government spending and an extreme wariness of any effort to tie Britain more tightly to a unified Europe. It is a program not substantially different from that of the Major government, which he quit on Monday.

Thus, political commentators suggest that Redwood, 44, is driven by sheer ambition rather than any great argument with Major over domestic or foreign policy.

But then, observers note, Redwood’s career has always been marked by his fierce intelligence and his desire to excel--ever onward and upward.

Born in Dover, the son of an accountant, Redwood was an outstanding student and received an honors degree in history at Oxford University. He earned his Ph. D. and was offered a teaching fellowship. His doctoral thesis was turned into a book, “Reason, Ridicule and Religion: The Age of Enlightenment in England, 1660-1750.”

But even this early in his career, telling aspects about his personality emerged. His nickname at Oxford was “Deadwood.” Michael Howard, a historian, remembered Redwood as “a cold young man, very remote and ambitious.”

At Oxford, Redwood met his wife, Gail, also a political activist, with whom he has had one son and a daughter.

In 1974, Redwood moved to London’s financial center, and later joined N. M. Rothschild as an investment analyst. Robert Jackson, a Tory member of Parliament and a contemporary at Oxford, said of Redwood: “He was a loner. He had an efficient mind but somehow there was a spark missing. He could have been a success in academia, in the City [London’s financial district] or in politics. He managed to be a success in all three.”

Redwood was brought to Thatcher’s attention as an economics highflier; she made him head of her policy unit in 1983, where he gained a broad grasp of government issues. This led to his run for Parliament in 1987, when he captured one of the safe Tory seats.

He remained a Thatcher fast-lane favorite and was quickly appointed to several government posts; in 1993, he reached Cabinet rank as secretary for Wales. Although he was heading one of the minor departments in the Major government, Redwood nevertheless did have a voice at Cabinet meetings at No. 10 Downing St.

Matthew Parris, a fellow member of Parliament who has turned political commentator, dubbed Redwood “Vulcan,” saying he is “half-human, half-Vulcan, brother of the brilliant, coldblooded Spock” of television’s “Star Trek.”

But Redwood reportedly showed a flash of emotion this week. He was said to be infuriated that Major did not tell him personally last Thursday that he was calling a snap leadership election.