Past Prime Ministers
Born 29 March 1943, St. Helier, Carshalton, Surrey
Dates in office 28 November 1990 - 2 May 1997
Political party Conservative
Major acts
National Lottery Act 1993 - Licensed a body to run a National Lottery
Council Tax 1992 - was brought in to replace the highly unpopular Poll Tax
Interesting facts
1994 his government's representatives participated in the negotiation of a cease-fire in Northern Ireland
John Major
1990 - 1997
“Fifty years on from now, Britain will still be the country of long shadows on cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers.”
John Major was raised in Brixton. Unlike many Prime Ministers of the 20th century, after leaving school at sixteen he did not attend university. Instead he came to politics at a young age as an active Young Conservative in Brixton and stood as a candidate for Lambeth Council aged only 21, winning the seat and becoming chairman of the Housing Committee. He stood for Parliament twice in 1974 in St Pancras, losing both times before winning Huntingdonshire in 1979.
Once in Parliament his star entered the ascendant. He became a ministerial aide in 1981 and then a Minister himself in 1985. Entering Cabinet in 1987 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury he won the admiration and respect of his colleagues due to his ability to keep expenditure down. He was then promoted to Foreign Secretary in 1989 and Chancellor of the Exchequer soon after that.
Following the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, Major became Prime Minister and attempted to reconcile both party and country in the wake of a divisive decade. He took a leading role, alongside George H W Bush, in the first Gulf War, and – during a Cabinet meeting – survived an IRA mortar attack on No.10.
Major won the 1992 General Election, with the Conservatives receiving the highest number of popular votes in history but with a reduced majority of 21 – which itself was reduced in by-election defeats during the parliament. This victory was on the back of reversing the unpopular poll tax, Community Charge, introduced at the end of the Thatcher Government. After this election, however, his fortunes began to change. Five months into the new parliament, Major was forced to abandon a flagship part of his economic policy, membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Intended to keep inflation low by linking exchange rates to the Deutschmark, the markets forced the UK out after the Government spent billions trying to buck the market.
Alongside this came a fresh round of infighting from within his own party over Europe. Major secured a number of opt outs from the Maastricht Treaty regarding social policy and membership of the single currency – but this was not enough for a number of his colleagues. Throughout the rest of his time as Prime Minister, Major suffered from continued attacks from his own party and Cabinet on Europe that played a role in destabilising the government.
In addition to this, the Major government was the subject of a number of press stories about infidelity and poor moral behaviour both within the Cabinet and wider party. The label of Tory Sleaze stuck and lost Major’s government further credibility.
After leaving the ERM, the economy picked up and under Major the beginning of Britain’s longest period of continuous economic growth began. Major also began work engaging with the IRA to work towards a peaceful end to the conflict in Northern Ireland, his work there laying the foundations for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.