Sir John Major is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He previously held Cabinet positions under prime minister Margaret Thatcher,his last as chancellor of the Exchequer from 1989 to 1990. Major was Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon,formerly Huntingdonshire,from 1979 to 2001. Since stepping down as an MP in 2001,Major has focused on writing and his business,sporting and charity work,and has occasionally commented on political developments in the role of an elder statesman.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher,Baroness Thatcher,was a British stateswoman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the position. As prime minister,she implemented economic policies known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady",a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.
Leonard James Callaghan,Baron Callaghan of Cardiff,,commonly known as Jim Callaghan,was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is the only person to have held all four Great Offices of State,having served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1964 to 1967,Home Secretary from 1967 to 1970 and Foreign Secretary from 1974 to 1976. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1987.
The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the House of Commons.
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and style of management while in office. Proponents of Thatcherism are referred to as Thatcherites. The term has been used to describe the principles of the British government under Thatcher from the 1979 general election to her resignation in 1990,but it also receives use in describing administrative efforts continuing into the Conservative governments under John Major and David Cameron throughout the 1990s and 2010s. In international terms,Thatcherites have been described as a part of the general socio-economic movement known as neoliberalism,with different countries besides the United Kingdom sharing similar policies around expansionary capitalism.
The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 11 June 1987,to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party,who won a majority of 102 seats and second landslide under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher,who became the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive electoral victories.
New Labour is the name given to the period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994,later seen in a draft manifesto which was published in 1996 and titled New Labour,New Life for Britain. It was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics. The branding was extensively used while the party was in government between 1997 and 2010. New Labour was influenced by the political thinking of Anthony Crosland and the leadership of Blair and Brown as well as Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell's media campaigning. The political philosophy of New Labour was influenced by the party's development of Anthony Giddens' Third Way which attempted to provide a synthesis between capitalism and socialism. The party emphasised the importance of social justice,rather than equality,emphasising the need for equality of opportunity and believed in the use of markets to deliver economic efficiency and social justice.
David John Sainsbury,Baron Sainsbury of Turville,is a British politician,businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997,he served as chairman of Sainsbury's,the supermarket chain established by his great grandfather John James Sainsbury in 1869.
The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906.
The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals,led by Lord Palmerston,increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.
The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883.
Dealignment,in political science,is a trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan affiliation,without developing a new one to replace it. It is contrasted with political realignment.
The post-war consensus,sometimes called the post-war compromise,was the economic order and social model of which the major political parties in post-war Britain shared a consensus supporting view,from the end of World War II in 1945 to the late-1970s. It ended during the governance of Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher. The consensus tolerated or encouraged nationalisation,strong trade unions,heavy regulation,high taxes,and an extensive welfare state.
Sir Anthony Francis Seldon is a British educator and contemporary historian. As an author,he is known in part for his political biographies of consecutive British Prime Ministers,John Major,Tony Blair,Gordon Brown,David Cameron,Theresa May and Boris Johnson. He was the 13th master (headmaster) of Wellington College,one of Britain's co-educational independent boarding schools,and is the current Head Master of Epsom College. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham from 2015 to 2020,when he was succeeded by James Tooley. In 2009,he set up The Wellington Academy,the first state school to carry the name of its founding independent school. Before that,he was head of Brighton College.
The 1980 Labour Party leadership election was held following the resignation of James Callaghan,who had been Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979 and had stayed on as leader of the Labour Party for eighteen months in order to oversee an orderly transition to his favoured successor,Denis Healey,over his own deputy Michael Foot. However,during this period the party had become bogged down in internal arguments about its procedures and future direction.
Anthony Stephen King was a Canadian-British professor of government,psephologist and commentator. He taught at the Department of Government at the University of Essex for many years.
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. While serving as prime minister,Major also served as the First Lord of the Treasury,the Minister for the Civil Service and the Leader of the Conservative Party.
Ian Budge is a political scientist who has pioneered the use of quantitative methods in studying party democracy across countries. Currently Emeritus Professor of the Department of Government,University of Essex he has been Professor at the European University Institute,Florence (1982-5). and visiting professor at various institutions in five other countries.
Shamit Saggar FAcSS is professor of public policy at the University of Western Australia where he is also Director of the Public Policy Institute. He is also visiting professor in the Policy Institute at King’s College,London,and emeritus professor of political science at the University of Essex.
The social history of the United Kingdom (1979–present) began with Conservative Prime Minister,Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) entering government and rejecting the post-war consensus in the 1980s. She privatised most state-owned industries and worked to weaken the power and influence of the trade unions. The party remained in government throughout most of the 1990s albeit with growing internal difficulties under the leadership of Prime Minister John Major (1990–1997).
