Lord Heseltine, the Conservative peer once touted as a Tory Party leader, has spent much of 2017 warning against the damaging impact of Brexit.
The former Deputy Prime Minister has used speeches and votes in the House of Lords, and regular media appearances, to prove his credentials as that rarest of things: an avowedly pro-EU Tory.
Here are five times in the last 12 months where the 84-year-old has made clear he doesn’t care what many of his Brexiteer colleagues think, including those in government.
1. ‘A Labour government might not be as bad as Brexit’.
This week, the Tory grandee got into hot water after he said that a Jeremy Corbyn government would do “less damage” to the UK than Brexit.
He said the “short-term pain” inflicted by a Labour prime minister would be easier to endure than the effects of leaving the EU, telling the Limehouse podcast: “Well, we have survived Labour governments before.
“Their damage tends to be short-term and capable of rectification. Brexit is not short-term and is not easily capable of rectification.
“There will be those who question whether the short-term pain justifies the avoidance of the long-term disaster.”
It prompted a huge backlash from Conservatives, led by the Bow Group think tank, which called for Lord Heseltine to be suspended from the party for his “sniping” about Brexit and accusing the former DPM of “outright sabotage”.
2. Writes withering rebuke to May after his Brexit sacking.
‘Tarzan’ was fired as a Government adviser for rebelling over Brexit in March, and penned a polite - but stinging letter - to Theresa May, reminding the PM she was once pro-EU too.
He was among 13 Conservative peers who voted to give Parliament final approval on the deal the UK secures when quitting the bloc, a cardinal sin given his role.
In his missive, he made plain to the PM to he “disagrees” with the sacking and reminded May that she too campaigned to Remain in the EU last year in a killer pay-off: “The simple fact is you have changed your mind ... I have not.”
3. Suggested May reshuffles Boris Johnson to Mongolia.
Hezza delivered a brutal assessment of what Theresa May should do with her trouble-making Foreign Secretrary.
After a series of Brexit interventions by Johnson that were threatening the PM’s authority, and as speculation mounted that he was about to lose his job in a reshuffle, Lord Heseltine was asked about ’BoJo″s antics when appearing on Sky News.
Reporter: “If you were in Theresa May’s position and you were going to reshuffle, where would you put Boris Johnson?”
Heseltine: “Mongolia, somewhere like that.”
4. Predicts UK will join the euro.
In September, Heseltine doubled down on his europhile credentials by advocating the UK scraps the pound and adopts the euro instead.
While it has been his long-held view, the comment was even more potent amid the Brexit fall-out.
He told the BBC the UK had a history of resisting European integration “at every stage” before “giving in” - though, in the instance of the euro, not “in the foreseeable future”.
He made similar comments to LBC radio, saying it was “very possible” the UK will never leave the 28-nation bloc, despite Brexit negotiations being well underway, and believing there is the prospect to rejoin the EU since the majority of younger people either voted to Remain or did not vote in the referendum.
5. Suggests Germany will ‘win the peace’ because of Brexit.
In arguably his most provocative remarks, Lord Heseltine suggested the UK was handing control of Europe’s destiny to Germany by leaving the EU.
He told the House Magazine: “We’ve now abandoned the opportunity to influence Europe, the council of ministers will meet and we won’t be there.
”Our ability to speak for the Commonwealth within Europe has come to an end. The Americans will shift their focus of interest to Germany.
“And if I can put it to you, for someone like myself, it was in 1933, the year of my birth, that Hitler was democratically elected in Germany. He unleashed the most horrendous war. This country played a unique role in securing his defeat.
”So Germany lost the war. We’ve just handed them the opportunity to win the peace. I find that quite unacceptable.“