ABSTRACT
The previous chapter recounted how privatisation developed as policy during the first Conservative Government. In this and the following two chapters the main privatisations initiated between May 1979 and June 1983 are discussed in detail. Specifically, this chapter considers the disposal of British Petroleum (BP) shares and the British National Oil Corporation’s and the British Gas Corporation’s oil production interests. The other two chapters look at the privatisation of British Aerospace and Cable and Wireless and then Amersham International, the National Freight Corporation and Associated British Ports. They were the big privatisations of the first Thatcher Government and their successful transfer to the private sector provided the platform for the privatisations that came later, after the Conservatives were returned to power in May 1983. The experience gained and mistakes made during these initial privatisations are summarised and analysed in chapter 7. A number of the industries covered were transferred to the private sector through a series of shares sales. For convenience, in each case not only are the tranches of shares sold during the 1979-83 Government covered in these chapters but also the subsequent tranches, even though they occurred under later Governments. This is intended to assist those studying the history of particular privatisations. A similar policy is adopted for the privatisations discussed in subsequent chapters.
