Who resigned from his post as British Defence Secretary in 1986 over the Westland Helicopter Affair?

The Westland affair in 1985–86 was an episode in which Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and her Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Heseltine, went public over a cabinet dispute with questions raised about whether the conventions of cabinet government were being observed and about the integrity of senior politicians.

The argument was over the future of Westland Helicopters, Britain's last helicopter manufacturer, which was to be the subject of a rescue bid. While the Defence Secretary, Heseltine, favoured a European solution, integrating Westland with a consortium including British Aerospace (BAe), Italian (Agusta) and French companies, the Prime Minister and the Trade and Industry Secretary, Leon Brittan, while ostensibly maintaining a neutral stance, wanted to see Westland merge with Sikorsky, an American company.

Heseltine refused to accept Thatcher's choice and claimed that Thatcher was refusing to allow a free ministerial discussion about the matter, even suggesting she had lied about cancelling a scheduled meeting. He eventually, when ordered to cease campaigning for his European consortium, resigned and walked out of a Cabinet meeting in January 1986.