 | This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (April 2022) |
 Major in 1995 | |
| Premiership of John Major 28 November 1990 – 2 May 1997 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
|---|---|
| Cabinet | |
| Party | Conservative |
| Election | 1992 |
| Seat | 10 Downing Street |
|
| |
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg)
John Major's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 28 November 1990 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding Margaret Thatcher, and ended on 2 May 1997 following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1997 general election by the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair. As prime minister, Major served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury and as Minister for the Civil Service.
After Thatcher resigned as prime minister following a challenge to her leadership, Major entered the second stage of the contest to replace her and emerged victorious, becoming prime minister. Major went on to lead the Conservative Party to a fourth consecutive electoral victory at the 1992 election, the only election he won during his seven-year-premiership. Although the Conservatives lost 40 seats, they won over 14 million votes, which remains to this day a record for any British political party.
As prime minister, Major created the Citizen's Charter, removed the Poll Tax and replaced it with the Council Tax, committed British troops to the Gulf War, took charge of the UK's negotiations over the Maastricht Treaty of the European Union (EU),[1] led the country during the early 1990s economic crisis, withdrew the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (a day which came to be known as Black Wednesday), promoted the socially conservative back to basics campaign, passed further reforms to education and criminal justice, privatised the railways and coal industry, and also played a pivotal role in creating peace in Northern Ireland.[2]
Internal Conservative Party divisions on the EU, a number of scandals involving Conservative MPs (widely known as "sleaze"), and questions about his economic credibility are seen as the main factors that led Major to resign as party leader in June 1995. However, he sought reelection as Conservative leader in the 1995 Conservative leadership election, and was comfortably re-elected. Notwithstanding, public opinion of his leadership was poor, both before and after. By December 1996, the government had lost its majority in the House of Commons due to a series of by-election defeats and an MP crossing the floor.[3] Major sought to rebuild public trust in the Conservatives following a series of scandals, including the events of Black Wednesday in 1992,[4][5] through campaigning on the strength of the economic recovery following the early 1990s recession, but faced divisions within the party over the UK's membership of the European Union.[5]
The Conservatives were defeated in a landslide in the 1997 general election, ending 18 years of Conservative rule. After Blair succeeded Major as prime minister, Major served as Leader of the Opposition for seven weeks while the leadership election to replace him took place. He formed a temporary shadow cabinet, and Major himself served as shadow foreign secretary and shadow secretary of state for defence. His resignation as Conservative leader formally took effect in June 1997 following the election of William Hague.
- ^ "European Council (Maastricht)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 11 December 1991. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (17 May 2011). "John Major started process that has culminated with Queen's visit to Dublin". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ "The Major minority". The Independent. 13 December 1996. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "UK Politics - The Major Scandal Sheet". BBC News.
- ^ a b Miers, David (2004). Britain in the European Union. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 12–36. doi:10.1057/9780230523159_2. ISBN 978-1-4039-0452-2.