Sir Edward Heath 'seriously ill' in hospital

Sir Edward, 87, was in Salzburg for the annual Festspiele music and cultural festival when he suffered a pulmonary embolism following treatment for a stomach upset.

He was flown by air ambulance from Salzburg yesterday morning to RAF Northolt air base in London.

Sir Edward was taken to King Edward VII hospital in central London, where he was receiving further treatment.

His private secretary said in a statement last night: "Following treatment in hospital in Salzburg for a minor stomach upset, a small clot on the lung was discovered."

Rumours about a deterioration in Sir Edward’s health have been circulating in Westminster for several weeks.

He left the Commons at the June 2001 election after serving as MP for Bexley and Old Sidcup for 51 years.

A non-smoker who rarely drank, Sir Edward has generally remained in good health. However, he was admitted to hospital in June 1992 for what a member of his staff described as a "routine operation".

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, expressed his concern for Sir Edward.

He said: "I am sad to hear that Sir Edward Heath has been taken ill. Naturally, we all wish him a very speedy recovery. The thoughts of the entire Conservative Party are with Sir Edward at this time."

He drew admiration when, well into his seventies, he underwent a gruelling desert journey to Baghdad during the first Gulf crisis on a successful mission to urge Saddam Hussein to release 33 sick and elderly British hostages.

In power, he took Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC) and deployed troops to Northern Ireland. His determined efforts to take the country into the EEC were rewarded with a big Commons majority - helped by Labour rebels - in favour of the principle of joining.

Mr Heath became an MP in 1950, and after Churchill’s victory in 1951, he rose rapidly through the whip’s office, becoming deputy chief whip in 1952, and chief whip under Anthony Eden in 1955.

He was appointed minister of labour, and Lord Privy Seal in 1960, in Harold Macmillan’s government.

Alec Douglas-Home created a special post for him in October 1963 - secretary of state for industry, trade and regional development, and president of the Board of Trade.

He was elected leader of the party in 1965 and despite Harold Wilson’s Labour Party being ahead in the polls, won the 1970 election.

On 22 January, 1972, Mr Heath signed the Treaty of Accession, in Brussels, but the elaborate ceremony was marred when a protester threw ink over him.

At home, bitter relations with the TUC boiled up into a statutory wage freeze in 1972 - a three-stage prices and incomes policy which enraged the opposition and dismayed many of his own supporters.

Confrontation between the government and the miners plunged the nation into a three-day week as energy-starved industry tried to keep going.

Mr Heath decided on an early general election in February 1974 which resulted in a hung parliament. After desperate attempts to strike a deal with Jeremy Thorpe’s Liberals, Mr Heath quit Downing Street, never to return.

At a second election, in October 1974, Mr Wilson gained a tiny overall majority for Labour and the cry of "Heath must go" began to be heard with increasing intensity among Tory back-benchers.

The following year, Margaret Thatcher wrested the leadership of the party from him in a ballot of Conservative MPs and he went to the back-benches, refusing to serve under her.