Decline Flashcards
What issue in 1989-1990 reduced the popularity of Thatcher’s government?
Poll Tax
How many people were arrested at the Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square?
300
How many policemen were injured during the Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square?
400
What was the % fall in the value of shares in the 1987 stock market crash?
24%
What % was inflation at by 1989?
8.3%
Interest rates were raised by Chancellor Lawson to what % in 1989?
15%
Where did Thatcher make a speech critical of European integration in 1988?
Bruges
What European economic plan caused huge division within Thatcher’s cabinet?
Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM)
Was Thatcher in favour of the ERM?
No
Which British economic figures were in favour of the ERM?
Howe (Thatcher’s former Chancellor), and Lawson (Thatcher’s current Chancellor)
What role did Thatcher demote Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to in 1989?
Deputy PM
Who resigned from Thatcher’s cabinet in 1989 sparking a political crisis in her leadership?
Nigel Lawson
What by-elections did the Conservatives lose throughout 1989 and 1990?
1989 - Vale of Glamorgan
1990 - Mid-Staffordshire
Whose resignation speech in the Commons in 1990 sparked the leadership challenge against Thatcher?
Geoffrey Howe
Who challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1990?
Michael Heseltine
