Prior to the commotion and discussions surrounding the leadership election at this year’s Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, there was a significant recognition of an important milestone.
Michael Winstanley, the chairman of the conference, ensured that this was highlighted at the outset of his opening address, preceding his critiques of the Labour government.
He stated: ‘‘This year signifies the fortieth anniversary of the Brighton bombing during the Conservative Party conference, and it is appropriate that we take a moment to honor those who were murdered and those injured in that despicable act of terrorism.’
His voice, tinged with emotion, echoed the words spoken by Margaret Thatcher mere hours after she narrowly escaped death in her hotel room.
‘This was an assault on democracy, aimed not only at disrupting and ending the Conservative Party conference, but also at incapacitating Her Majesty’s democratically elected government.
‘Such was the magnitude of the atrocity we collectively endured, and the fact that we now gather here – albeit shocked, yet composed and resolute – signifies not only that this attempt has failed, but that all endeavors to undermine democracy through terrorism will ultimately fail.’
For those who witnessed it, the images from the IRA’s assassination attempt on October 12, 1984, remain unforgettable.
The Grand Hotel’s facade along the Brighton seafront bore a large gaping hole that crumbled onto the pavement. Distressed guests stumbled out, enveloped in dust. Trade and Industry Secretary Norman Tebbit was carried on a stretcher by emergency responders.
However, what is less acknowledged is how imminent the threat was to a sitting Prime Minister’s life, at risk of murder for only the second time in British history.
In Rory Carroll’s book *Killing Thatcher*, which details the events leading up to and following the attack, it is described how IRA operative Patrick Magee intentionally positioned the long-delay time bomb near the hotel’s internal chimney stack.
This choice amplified the level of devastation caused by the explosion, resulting in a cascade of debris that tore through each level of the building.
Carroll notes that the bathroom of Thatcher’s Napoleon Suite was one of the areas heavily impacted by the collapsing chimney.
At the time of the explosion, the Prime Minister had remained awake, fine-tuning her conference speech, and had used the bathroom just two minutes prior.
If her timing had been off by even a couple of minutes – or if the chimney had collapsed in a slightly different direction – the extremists likely would have succeeded where Guy Fawkes had failed 380 years earlier, resulting in the assassination of the nation’s leader.
While Thatcher emerged unscathed, sadly, others were not as fortunate. Five individuals lost their lives during this attack:
- Sir Anthony Berry, Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate
- Lady Muriel Maclean, spouse of Scottish Conservatives president Sir Donald Maclean, passed away five weeks post-explosion due to her injuries
- Lady Jeanne Shattock, a magistrate and school governess, wife of Conservative Western-area chairman Sir Gordon Shattock
- Eric Taylor, chairman of the North-West Conservative Association
- Roberta Wakeham, spouse of South Colchester and Maldon MP, and Conservative Chief Whip John Wakeham
Margaret Tebbit, wife of Tebbit, was among the 32 individuals who suffered injuries from the explosion, ultimately left paralyzed from the chest down and reliant on a wheelchair until her death in 2020.
Today, the Grand Hotel has been restored, with the only discernible remnant of the devastation from four decades ago being a memorial plaque in its foyer.
However, had events unfolded differently that night, it could have been the backdrop for one of the most pivotal moments in British politics.
As Carroll articulates in his book: ‘‘With just two more minutes, or a few feet, the course of history could have shifted dramatically, along with the destiny of Northern Ireland, Thatcherism, and the Cold War.’
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