1990-1997 Flashcards
describe John major as pm
-appealed to ordinary people eg worked his way up
became mp 1979 then became foreign sec then c of e in 1989 (only in cabinet 3.5 years before pm)
-stolid likeable figure
-never went to higher education
how did satire target major
-become one of most public forms of public criticsm - TV created a satire boom period for mocking public figures
-programmes eg itvs spitting image portrayed major as a grey figure boringly consumed with the unimportant details of his life and bbcs yes minister was gentler but showed civil service establishment running rings round gov ministers , guardian cartoonist steve bell caricatured him as a grey superhero
-however didnt always hit targets?1996 spitting image stopped when quality declined
how did major handle his first term in office (pre 1992)
-1991 withdrew poll tax in favour of a new council tax, wanted classless society
-introduced the ‘citezens charter’ which his gov would base approach on (watered down thatcherism?)
-conservs jumped ahead in opinion polls/national press was positive
-satire/scandals lingered
-fought the 1st gulf war, supported president bush in removing the Iraqis from kuwait, ended march 1991
-made speech saying wanted to see britain ‘at the heart of europe’ - signed maastricht treat dec 1991 committing britain to greater integration in europe and negotiated special agreement allowing gb to opt out of social chapter/some aspects of economic policy
why did labour loose the 1992 election
-neil kinnock led poor campaign after thinking they’d win, initially 41% in opinion polls
-ill conceived rally in sheffield 1 april the week before the election (razzmatazz style of us politics/labour put on extravaganza of blaring music/announcements/spotlights-neil kinnock bounded up to rostrum repititvely shouting like he was at an american convention) - premature triumphalism
-john smiths presented an ‘alternative budget’ that threatened large increase in taxation and national insurance contributions(cut in disposable income) , major exploited by standing on a soap box and suggested only conservs could be trusted with economy (fear of a labour victory)
why did major win the 1992 election
-sun switched support from labour to cons (main voice of labour popularity), ‘it was the sun wot won it’
-conservs good campaign, old fashioned ‘soap box’ politics, speeches on street eg luton, safe party?
-daily express-‘it was john major the voters knew they could trust’-more likeable than kinnock who was seen as too extreme
-popular capitalism eg house sales/shareholders/tu decline more attractive to voters
-decline of working class, increasing affluence/opportunities detached traditional voting habits (35% 1992)
how far was labour ahead in opinion polls before the 1992 election
41%
what overall majority did conservatives have after the 1992 election
21even though they lost 40 seats
-42.8% of vote
what scandals decreased majors gov reputation
-david mellor (heritage minister) 1992 had an affair with a spanish actress-involved wearing chelsea shirt whilst having sex
-tim yeo (environmental minister) resigned in 1994 after having affair with conservatives local councillor and had a child
-stephen milligan (promosing young conserv mp) 1994 throttled himself to death while engaging in sexually stimulating self-strangulation
-cash for questions affair!!! - neil hamilton (corporate affairs minister) 1994 accused by the guardian of receiving envelopes stuffed with money from mohamed al fayed (controversial owner of harrods) who wanted special commercial favours, in 1997 election martin bell (BBC correspondent) stood against hamilton in a public libel case to highlight the lack of probity in gov circles and won a maj of 11,000 and hamilton still refused to resign
-arms to iraq scandal!!! - scott enquiry set up by gov 1994 to investigate illegal arms dealings proved gov ministers had been ‘economical with the truth’ in letting arms company ‘matrix churchill’ supply arms to iraq weapons programme, 2 leading conservs jeffrey archer/jonathon aitken convicted off perjury (lied in court)
what was majors economy like before 1992
-1991/92 unemployment 1.6mil-2.6mil
-in the lawson boom of the 1980s house prices increased rapidly, many did everything they could to buy a home, when prices decreased home owners trapped in ‘negative equity’ (having to repay mortgages that were higher than the current value of their homes so many had to sell their home/have it repossessed)- 1992 300,000-900,000 in negative equity
-major implemented high public spending before the election, meant huge borrowing
what economic situation did major inherit
-declining manufacturing output
-high interest
-rise in unemployment
when did britain join the erm
october 1990 (meant britain had to maintain a fixed rate of exchange with few fluctuations)- foreign speculators would buy/sell currency and if they sell it it falls in value
what was black Wednesday
-wed 16th sep 1992 currency under pressure, there was a wave of speculative selling of the pound,run on the pound, interest rates increased to 12%-15% to persuade foreign investors to buy pound and b of e spent its reserves in buying up pounds,refused to devaluate=failed
-gov forced to withdraw from the ERM and devalue the currency, 7pm norman lamont announced on tv to leave
what were the impacts of black Wednesday
P-economy stabilised, realised erm prevented britain (allowed exchange rates to float downwards, which helped british exporters), unemployment slowed, housing market picked up(less negative equity) , economy benefiting from deregulation and flexible working practices, consumer spending up eg car ownership, business was supportive of gov policies
C-politically damaging, electoral asset of conservatives being trusted with economy went away
C-drop in opinion polls, major authority weakened ‘beginning of the end’
C-‘feel good factor’ of the economy was missing so major didnt get credit for the mainly positive economy
who were john majors chancellor of the exchequers
norman lamont 1990-1993
kenneth clarke 1993-1997
what companies did major gov privatise
coal industry 1994 (continued pit closures eg hesletine announced closure of 31 pits but outcry from nottinghamshire miners=u turn)
railways 1996
introduced PFI (private finance initiative), public-private partnerships
what is pfi
A private finance initiative (PFI) is a way of financing public-sector projects through the private sector. PFIs alleviate the government and taxpayers of the immediate burden of coming up with the capital for these projects.
Under a private finance initiative, a private company handles the up-front costs instead of the government. In return, the government authority makes payments to the private company over the long term.
what was the citizens charter
-announced 1991, promised to increase accountability and responsiveness in the public sector, give public sector users more quality services by providing info about the standards they should expect, successes in meeting targets would be granted ‘charter marks’
how did major reform health and education
-reorganised NHS as an internal market to improve efficiency and reduce costs
-reforms in education removed bureaucracy eg reduced power of local authorities over schools, introduced published performance league tables,1994 teacher training agency created to provide training to teachers to ensure they were kept up to date with changes in educational policy
what was the council tax
-introcued march 1991 micheal hesletine
-based on property values/paid by everyone
what were same random policies introduced by major
-home sec micheal howard reduced freedom of judges by in producing fixed and minimum sentences- 1993 claimed ‘prison works’
-1993 introduced national lottery, donated large sums to arts/heritage/sport
-1993 cons part conference announced ‘time to get back to basics’-made sleaze even more significant
what was the situation in ni by 1990
-public appetite for resolution
-escalation of violence eg on mainland britain/’professional’ attacks (cant be ignored)
-1993 gov recieved secret messages hinting sinn fein were ready to discuss peace agreement
what happened with ni at the start of majors reign
-2 months in office ira fired mortar bombs at downing street from a parked van (followed by sustained ira bombing campaign)
-2 children killed, 50 injured by bombs left in bins in warrington
-1 killed, 40 injured by bomb from lorry in London (also caused over a billion pounds worth of damage)
-peace rallied in london/belfast/dublin
-ira recognised their loss of support and blamed british police for not acting on warnings eg phone calls they gave them before attacks
what was the usas involvement in ni under major
-jan 1994 clinton (president) granted gerry adams a 48 hour visa to visit the us (ended international isolation of sin fein)
-nov 1995 clinton became the 1st us president to visit ni
-senator george visited the following year and major welcomed his proposals for a way forward by setting up an international commission
what was the downing street declaration
15 dec 1993- albert Reynolds and john major delivered outline of a plan hoping for peace and multi part talks, argued for self determination on the basis of consensus for all the people of ireland (agreement had to be based on the rights of both parts of ireland)
-recognised 3 sets of relationships needed addressing: north and south of ni, political and constitutional relationship between ni and republic, political relationship between dublin and london
-gov said their role was to ‘encourage, facilitate and enable’ the peace process
-irish gov recognised that a significant minority (eg protestants) couldnt be forced into arrangements they opposed
