Julian Haviland, who has died aged 93, was a political editor in television and newspapers during a period in British life that encompassed the winter of discontent, the election of Margaret Thatcher as the country’s first female prime minister and the 1980s miners’ strike.
Shortly before Thatcher’s election victory, in the spring of 1979 Haviland, as ITN political editor, interviewed the Conservative leader for ITV’s News at Ten. When he pressed her to give details of possible Tory tax cuts, she produced a £1 note and told him: “At the moment, the money is taken away from you – you have no choice. It goes to the government. Supposing we give it to you in the pay packet, because we believe it belongs to you – you will have an extra £1 or more in that pay packet. You can choose what you do with that.” The television image was a powerful boost to her PR campaign.
