Major's Political Success and Failures

1992 Election - Pre-Election

13 days before the election, polling suggested that Major would lose to Kinnock, but Kinnock messed up: He assumed victory and ‘Americanised’ his Sheffield Rally and messed up his chances.

1992 Election - Results

Conservatives - 336 seats, 41.9%

Labour - 271 seats, 34.4%

Conservatives lost 40 seats from 1987 but had a 21 seats majority.

Reasons the Conservatives won the 1992 election

Condoning Thatcherite Ideas - Disagreed with Poll tax and replaced it with Council Tax, got him away from an unpopular policy and made him more electable.

Major’s relaxed campaigning style and personality - Won a lot of respect for his old-fashioned ‘soap-box’ politics - impromptu speeches in Luton.

Labour’s ineffective campaign -Hadn’t reformed enough and were still living in the memories of the 1980s. Kinnocks fiasco at the Sheffield Rally, 1992 also put a bad show for Labour and blunder for Kinnock.

Press Support - Major had press support, especially from The Sun who were traditionally Labour, were ‘respected and listened to’ by the electorate.

Back to Basics Speech, 1993

At the Conservative Conference in 1993, Major made a speech wanting a “return to those core values” of “neighbourliness, decency, courtesy”. He then said the Conservative party “will lead the country back to those basic rights”.

Was all ironic due to the subsequent number of financial sleazes and sex scandals which would be publicly released over the next 4 years.

Conservative Divisions

During the end of Thatcher’s premiership, she was facing backlash with those close to her such as Geoffrey Howe facing alienation causing resignations.

Howe famously said his move from the Foreign Office to a lesser post was:

“Rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find as the first balls are bowled that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain”

After the election victory in 1992, divisions remained:

• Those on the right pushed for more radical social policies - such as leaving the EU

• Major who was more ‘left’ than his predecessor sort to show he was a ‘good European’ - signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992

The Bastards

Members of Majors Cabinet: Michael Howard, Peter Lilley, and Michael Portillo.

Wanted to oust Major as party leader and PM, due to seeing him as week after signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.

The Conservative Leadership Contest, 1995

Michael Portillo and John Redwood were frequently batted around as Major’s challengers to his leadership.

On June 22nd 1995, Major challenged the backstabbers with the motto “Back me or Sack me”

Portillo didn’t run so it was Major v. Redwood (Sec. of State for Wales), Redwood was backed by Thatcherites and Eurosceptics.

Major successfully got Michael Heseltine on his side in return to put Heseltine as Deputy PM.

Major won 218-89 against Redwood.

Labour in the 1990s

Foot in the 1980s was a UND supporter and his left-wing manifesto was called “The Longest Suicide Note”

Kinnock had replaced Michael Foot as leader in 1983 and had successfully delt with Militant Tendency’s and ‘Bennites’ during the 1980s but failed to challenge Thatcher in 1987.

By 1992, the Conservatives were falling in popularity and Kinnock grew in support but blundered with his Sheffield Rally in 1992 where he shouted repeatedly “We’re Alright”

After the 1992 failure, Kinnock resigned and was replaced by John Smith who introduced the OMOV, TU dominance was limited, and helped Labour recover from 1992.

But he suddenly died in 1994 and was replaced by the young, more central Tony Blair. Blair rebranded the party as ‘New Labour’ after removing Clause IV in 1995 and made Labour look ‘ready to govern’.