Sir Julian Critchley; Lawmaker Fought Thatcher Over European Union

Sir Julian Critchley, 69, British lawmaker who clashed with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over Europe. Critchley, who represented Aldershot in southern England for the Conservative Party since 1964, quit Parliament before the last national elections in 1997, which saw Tony Blair’s Labor Party sweep the Tories from power. As a keen supporter of European integration, Critchley often was at odds with Thatcher’s Euro-skeptic stance, describing her on one occasion as a “great she-elephant.” In 1990, Critchley supported former defense secretary Michael Heseltine’s bid to wrest leadership of the Conservative Party from Thatcher. Heseltine failed, but the contest fatally weakened Thatcher and led to her ouster later that year. In 1999 elections for the European Parliament, Critchley’s rift with party bosses widened when he supported several unofficial, pro-Europe Tory candidates. He left the party soon afterward. Critchley was knighted in 1995 by Thatcher’s successor, John Major. On Saturday in London of cancer.