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was one of his proudest achievements, but he has also admitted that some of his reforms were a step too far.
In 1983, Tebbit was promoted to chairman of the Conservative Party.
He played a crucial role in securing Margaret Thatcher’s landslide victory in that year’s general election.
However, the Tebbit family’s joy was short-lived.
A bomb planted by the IRA at the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the party conference in October 1984 nearly killed him and left his wife permanently disabled.
The bombing fuelled Tebbit’s already strong anti-IRA beliefs.
He was quick to distinguish between the moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland and the “bloodthirsty murderers of the Provisional IRA”.
But financial insecurity would never be far away for the Tebbits.
The UK has one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world and the costs of providing care for someone with long-term disabilities can be eye-wateringly high.
Ironically, the bombing that nearly killed Tebbit in his hotel room cost the state around £2m in lost revenue in the immediate aftermath.
But it was the price he was willing to pay for sharing his wife’s life.