Ian MacGregor (right) NCB Chairman meet Arthur Scargill (left), NUM National President for the first time on 13th Sepptember 1983.

Notts line up to fight MacGregor, Notts Free Press Newspaper, September 1983.

Ian MacGregor, in NCB white coat, on a visit to Bentinck Colliery in September 1984. Photo Credit – Coal Authority

Ian MacGregors memoirs of the 1984-85 miners strike, The Enemies Within: The Story of the Miners Strike 1984-85, was published in 1986.

Ian MacGregor was appointed Chairman of the National Coal Board (NCB) on 1st September 1983. His appointment was controversial following his spell at British Steel which was rationalised considerably under his chairmanship. He took over from Norman Siddall, who had been NCB Chairman for a short eighteen-month period in 1982-83. He retired due to ill health despite being asked to stop on by PM Margaret Thatcher.