Major Flashcards
What was a key reason for Major being Thatcher’s choice of successor
Thatcherites saw him as “one of them”
Why did Major win a lot of respect with what type of politics
“soap box politics”
Within a few months of winning the general election what was the government forced to do
Leave the ERM
What was leaving the ERM known as
Black Wednesday
Who was Majors chancellor
Norman Lamont
Who announced live on television that Britain was leaving the ERM(Exchange rate mechanism)
Norman Lamont
What were the economic consequences of leaving the ERM
Prevented Britain from having high interest rates to protect the stability of the pound
Allowed exchange rates to decrease- helping British exporters
What were the Conservative scandals dubbed as
“Tory sleaze”
What was “Cash for questions”
Neil Hamilton and other MP’s accused of accepting money for lobbying
On behalf of Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed
Hamilton ruined by very public libel case yet refused to resign
Hamilton humiliatingly defeated by the independent candidate Martin Bell
“Sleaze” was the keynote of Martins campaign
What was the name for John Majors satirical character from Private eye
Adrian Mole
How did Spitting image present John Major
Dull and boring
What was the satire on Major like as a whole
None of it was vicious
Major remained more popular that his party yet his reputation of being well meaning yet inadequate stuck
What was the cones hotline
A phone number motorist could call if motorways were close doff
A target for satire
Who pushed for radical and social policies within the party
The right
Which two party members were the face of the right wing opposition to Major
Michael Portillo and John Redwood
When did John Major initiate a conservative leadership election
22 June 1995
Who ran against Major in the leadership election
John Redwood
- Backed by Thatcherites and Eurosceptics
Who made sure that everyone knew that he voted for Major in the leadership election in June 1995
Michael heseltine
What was the rsult of the leadership election in June 1995
The first ballot had
218 for Major
89 for Redwood
What did Tony Blair say about Majors leadership in PMQs
“I lead my party you follow yours”
What were attitudes to liberal values in the 80s
Negative due to a promotion of more “Victorian values” from Thatcher
What was AIDS referred to in the 80s
The “Gay plague”
What did the conservatives do in 1985 to combat AIDS
A prevention campaign
leaflets distributed
TV adverts
What did Princess Dianna do to challenge prejudices about AIDS in 1987
Shaking hands with a patient with AIDS
A hugely significant move in destigmatising AIDS patients
What did section 28 do
Institutionalised ideas of homosexuality being unnatural and criminalised offices which sought to portray homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality
What were divorce rates like
Hit a record number
What group did Mary Whitehouse lead
National viewers and listeners association
What did the national viewers and listeners association do
Initiated a socially conservative campaign against the more liberal distribution of films
Which girl group promoted girl power
Spice girls
What was the early 90s the start of regarding women
Third wave feminism
When was Stephen Lawrence killed in a racially motivated attack
1993
What was known about the Stephen Lawrence case
The identity of the killers however the Crown prosecution service decided there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute them
Who were Europhiles in Majors government
Ken Clarke
Chris Patten
Who were the eruosceptics in Majors government
Michael Portillo
John Redwood
Iain Duncan Smith
What was the Maastricht treaty
Designed to set up new structures to deal with EEC expansion
When did rebel MPs block Majors attempt to get parliament to ratify the Maastricht treaty
July 1993
What did Major threaten
A vote of no confidence
What was the result of Major threatening a vote of no confidence
Conservatives were far behind in opinion polls so this ensured support
Majors authority damaged and seen as weak
What did Major say about the rebel MPs thinking the mic was off
“think from my perspective, a prime minister with a majority of 18 do we want 3 more of the bastards out there”
What did Majors comment about the rebels do
Became headline news and made it harder for Major to position himself with eurosceptics
After how long was the Maastricht treaty ratified
18 months
When was the anti federalist league set up (Ukip)
1993
Who set up the referendum party to fight the 1997 election on the single issue of demanding a referendum on Britain’s relationship with Europe
The wealthy Sir James Goldsmith
What was srebrenica
In 1995 Bosnian Serb forces entered Srebrenica
Small force of Dutch UN peacekeepers
-had orders to not intervene
How many were killed in srebrenica
7000 Bosnian males
What did the events in the Balkans show about Britain
Britain’s place in the EU was being questioned
