“Had I become party leader”, Sir Keith Joseph told Anthony Seldon before the 1987 general election, “it would have been a disaster for the party, [for the] country and for me”. Although he had been flattered when colleagues approached him, he was aware that he lacked “the breadth of judgement, let alone knowledge, to take on the task”. For instance, he had no experience in foreign affairs. And the job of Leader of the Opposition was “overwhelmingly difficult”; as he explained on another occasion, it involved a “constant exercise in schizophrenia” in which “one wants the country to do well and the Government to do badly”. So when asked if he really did harbour any regrets about the outcome of his fleeting candidature, he replied “No, none whatsoever. I know my own capacities. Adequate for some jobs, but not for others”.

Paying her memorial tribute to Joseph in 1995, Margaret Thatcher saw things very differently. “Keith should have become Prime Minister. So many of us felt that was his destiny … In 1975 [sic] we wanted him to become Leader of the Opposition … If only in the course of one day fate had flowed through different channels, if only …”. For opponents of Thatcherism there is a contrasting “if only”. If only Joseph had challenged for the leadership, it would have remained in orthodox hands, either belonging to Heath or to someone else who broadly shared his views.