Major 1990-97

how did Thatcherites view Major?

saw him as 'one of them'

when was the Poll Tax scrapped?

Nov 1991 after lengthy discussions

preliminary 1992 election polls

29% C
41% L

1992 election results

Surprise victory
336 seats and 41.9% Tory
271 seats and 30.8% Labour
Received 14 mil votes -> highest number of votes since Labour in 1945

reasons why Labour lost 1992 election

Electoral reform failure
PEB 'The Journey'
PEB 'Jennifer's Ear'
Tax bombshell
Sheffield Rally
The Soapbox
Double Whammy
Red Wednesday
'It's The Sun Wot Won It'

Back to Basics Speech

Blackpool Conference 1993
'time to get back to basics, to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for others, to accepting a responsibility for yourself and your family'
'The message from this conference is clear and simple, we must go back to basics.'

sex scandals 1992

David Mellor = Chelsea kit

sex scandals 1993

Tim Yeo = "lovechild"
Steven Norris = "shagger"

sex scandals 1994-95

Hartley Booth = affair with younger Commons researcher
Earl of Caithess = wife's suicide due to extra-marital affair
Michael Brown = affair with younger man
Stephen Milligan = auto-erotic asphyxiation
Jonathan Aitken = procurement of sex workers for Arab businessmen

sex scandals 1997

Piers Merchant = affair with club hostess and researcher
Jerry Hayes = affair with a man below 21

1994 Scott Enquiry

• set up by Major to investigate illegal arms dealing
• proved that govt ministers had broken rules and been 'economic with the truth' in enabling Matrix Churchill to supply arms to Iraq
• 2 leading Conservatives convicted of perjury

'Cash-for-questions' affair

• Neil Hamilton and other MPs accused of accepting money in return for lobbying on behalf of Al Fayed
• Hamilton ruined by losing very public libel case
• refused to resign
• 1997 election Hamilton defeated by Martin Bell

Homes for Votes scandal

1996:
Shirley Porter revealed to initiate a programme of selling off council homes in exchange for a Conservative vote

The Secret Diary of John Major aged 47 and three-quarters

created by Private Eye

Major in Spitting Image

Guardian Major cartoon

• created by Steve Bell
• grey superhero wearing underwear on top of his trousers

privatisation of coal and railways

coal = 1994
railway = 1996

Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

public-private partnerships that meant private companies would fund infrastructure improvements then deliver public services that the State would pay for over the length of the contract

Citizen's Charter 1991

attempt to give public service users more power over the quality of the services they received by providing info about the standards they should expect

'Cones Hotline'

phone number motorists could call if motorway lanes were closed off without any sign of roadworks

Heseltine announces closure of… pits in 1991

31 (including some in Nottinghamshire)

BSE Crisis

1996
aka 'Mad Cow Disease'
British beef banned in Europe

IRA Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen

killed 11 and injured 63

IRA bomb bank in Warrington, England

2 children killed

British Army accused of 'shoot to kill' policy

3 men killed in East Tyrone in 1987

Guildford Four

4 found guilty of bombing 2 pubs in 1975, killing 5, and jailed for life. 1989 found innocent and released

Birmingham Six

imprisoned for bombing 2 pubs, killing 21, in 1975 based no confessions given during torture. verdict overturned 1991

Taoiseach which Major had good working relations with

Albert Reynolds

President Clinton and NI

• encouraged Sinn Fein away from armed struggle
• put pressure on Britain to resolve the situation
• sympathetic to nationalist cause (claimed to be of Irish descent)
• appointed pro-nationalist ambassador

when was the Downing Street Declaration issued by the British and the Irish? what was it?

15th December 1993
political differences can be "negotiated and resolved exclusively by peaceful political means"

when did the IRA declare a ceasefire following the Downing Street Declaration?

1994

why did the Downing Street Declaration fail?

Getting to a final agreement was difficult -> Unionists didn't believe in IRA's commitment to peace -> IRA got impatient and returned to violent methods -> bomb attacks in Canary Wharf (9th Feb 1996) and centre of Manchester

1995 leadership election

called by Major after facing relentless hostility from right-wing press. 'back me or sack me':

• John Major vs John Redwood
• Michael Portillo didn't run
• Major agreed Heseltine would be Deputy PM
• 218 to 89

Negative Equity + impact

• when an asset (usually car/hourse) that you borrowed money to purchase (mortgage/loan) drops in value and becomes worth less than the money you owed
• people had to pay mortgages that were much higher than the current value of their homes
• middle class and traditional Tories impacted more than previous recessions

unemployment 1991-92

1.6 mil to 2.6 mil

Black Wednesday/1992 Sterling Crisis

16th Sep 1992:

• currency crash caused by speculators
• government was forced to withdraw sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation

impact of Black Wednesday

• steep drop for Tories in opinion polls
• case for single currency weakened
• Major attacked in media (Sun)
• Labour had 15-point lead on Tories in polls by end of Sep 1992

how did Labour become much more professional in its presentation under Kinnock?

• expelled Militant Tendency
• mastermind was Peter Mandelson (Director of Commuications)
• ended Labour's support for closed shop union agreements in 1989

when was Ian Smith shadow chancellor? what did this do for Labour?

1987:
gave Labour more reassuring image of moderation and competence

Labour manifesto by 1988

ditched terms (anti-EEC, disarmament, rise in tax on high incomes) after loss in 1987

how did Smith remove trade union block in the Labour party?

by implementing One Member One Vote

when did Ian Smith die?

from heart attack in 1994 age 55

when did Blair persuade Labour to abolish Clause IV?

1995 Conference:
collapse of communism in the Eastern Bloc made socialism appear dead.

first case of HIV/AIDS in Britain

1981

govt prevention campaigns for HIV/AIDS

1985 onwards:

• needle exchanges set up
• leaflets distributed in schools

Jenny lives with Eric and Martin

children's book published 1983 caused public outcry

Princess Diana action destigmatising HIV/AIDS

shook hands with AIDS patient at Royal Middlesex Hospital when she opened the UK's first HIV/AIDS unit

Section 28 (of Local Governement Act)

'prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities' primarily applying to schools and social workers

when was Section 28 appealed?

stopped in 2000 in Scotland
rest of the UK in 2003

Stonewall…

backed legal cases at the European Court of Human Rights. challenged the unequal age of consent and the ban of homosexuals in the armed forces.

when was the age of consent/conscription lowered?

1994 - age of consent for gay men reduced from 21 to 18
2000 - age of consent reduced to 16 and homosexuals allowed in the military

% babies born to unmarried parents in early 1980s vs early 1990s

early 80s -> 12%
early 90s -> 30%

when was the Child Support Agency set up and why?

1993:

• ensured absent parents paid child care
• in response to Peter Lilley (Secretary of State for Social Security) singing a song including the words 'There's young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing queue / And dads who won't support the kids / of ladies they have … kissed.' in 1992

who led the campaign against the availability of contraceptive advice to underage girls without their parents' knowledge?
what was the response?

Victoria Gillick.
High Court initially ruled that this advice could only be given with the consent of a parent/guardian, though this was overruled by the House of Lords in 1985.

Video Recording Act

1994:

• ensured that videos had British film had classifications attached to them e.g. PG, 12, 15 etc.
• Mary Whitehouse coined the phrase 'video nasty', influencing the passing of the act

three areas of anti-Establishment culture

anti-monarchy
arts
youth

events leading to anti-monarchy attitudes

• by 1997, 3/4 Queen's childrens' marriages broken down
• financing rebuilding of Windsor Castle in 1992 after fire
• treatment of Princess Diana
• Princess Diana's death 1997

anti-Establishment culture in arts

• Young British Artists (Damian Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin) challenged ideas about what art was -> used dead animals or ephemeral detritus
• Charles Saatchi important patron + his collection of YBA work formed the basis of the Sensation exhibition held in 1997

anti-Establishment culture in youth

• 'acid house' dance music arrived from USA in 1980s
• 1988 and 1989 = 'Second summer of love' and saw explosion of raves and free parties
• up to 40,000 people attended a week-long free festival in Castlemorton in 1992
• ecstasy use provoked moral panic

divorce

underage sex

third-wave feminists

Rebecca Walker + Judith Butler

5 of women in employment who worked part-time in 1990

45%

1989 survey showed ../.. of people thought women with children under school age should stay home

2/3

% working age women employed 1993

68%

% employees who were women in 1996

50%

background to the extension of the Sexual Offences Act of 1976 (by the 1990 Law Commission Working Paper)

in 1989, 14% of married women had been raped. 96% wanted the law changed.

Labour MP John Tilley

went back on his statement about it being impossible for men to be guilty of marital rape

figures promoting 'girl power'

Spice Girls
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

'ladette'

became a cultural phenomenon:

• Ulrika Jonsson and Zoe Ball openly talked about sex and drinking like men did
• seen to liberate young women from confines of traditional femininity

Riot Grrrl

underground punk feminist movement which started in Washington state:

• sometimes seen as starting point for third-wave feminism.
• wanted a musical movement where women could express themselves in the same ways men had been doing for years.
• includes Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear.

first non-white MPs elected since 1920s in 1987 election

Diane Abbott, Keith Vez, Bernie Grant, Paul Boateng (all Labour)

1992 election in Cheltenham

John Taylor runs for Tory MP. Lib Dem candidate wins. first time since 1950 that Cheltenham didn't vote Conservative. some party members expelled after racist allegations made during heated debate.

Stephen Lawrence murdered

22nd April 1993

campaign against murder of Stephen Lawrence

• Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges due to insufficient evidence (following poor police handling)
• Stephen's parents campaign
• Daily Mail campaign led Labour govt to reopen case

MacPherson Report 1999

concluded racism was an important factor in the failure of the Met Police investigation into Lawrence's murder. identified wider problem of institutional racism in the Met Police

Casey Report 2021/3

declared homophobia, misogyny and racism continued to be major issues in Met Police

immigration raising concerns about Muslim integration into British society

• sharp increase in the influx of asylum seekers into the UK from Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq
• continued immigration from Commonwealth states

The Satanic Verses

published by British Indian author, Salman Rushdie, in 1988. considered blasphemous by many Muslims.

Maastricht Treaty

1992:

• established EU
• introduced concept of European citizenship
• set out terms for a single currency

what were the favourable terms of the Maastricht Treaty Major negotiated?

1. Right to opt out of currency
2. Exemption from requirements of social chapter of Treaty (employment regulations etc)

Maastricht Rebels

led by Iain Duncan Smith
supported by Thatcher
blocked Major's attempt to ratify Treaty in 1993

how did Major deal with the Maastricht rebels?

• threatened to call vote of no confidence in his own government (Tories not doing well in polls)
• rebels backed down
• Major appeared weak + exacerbated divisions in Party

Anti-Federalist League

formed 1991 -> became UKIP in 1993

Referendum Party

set up in 1994:

• by wealthy financier Sir James Goldsmith
• ran in 1997 election and won 2.6% vote

wave of anti-Communist uprisings in 1989

• Solidarity won free elections in Poland
• anti-Communist parties won majority in elections in Hungary
• only violent uprising in Romania

fall of Berlin Wall

9th Nov 1989

Gulf War

1990-91:

• triggered by invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
• ended anticipated era of peace
• Major's first big task as PM
• UN forces (including US + UK) expel Iraqi forces in short military campaign
• Hussein remains leader

how did the Yugoslav wars break out?

• Tito died 1980
• 1989, Serbian nationalist (Slobodan Milosevic) came to power and implemented policies favouring Serbs
• Slovenia and Croatia declare independence in 1991, but Milosevic refuses to accept this, commencing the Yugoslav Civil Wars

Douglas-Hurd role in Yugoslav Wars

Foreign Secretary:

• played a key role in UN/EU negotiations to restore peace
• unsuccessful -> conflict continued and intensified war

when did the Yugoslav Wars spread to Bosnia?

April 1992
Muslim population of eastern Bosnia driven out by violent ethnic cleansing by Bosnian-Serb paramilitaries backed by Milosevic's govt

Major role in Yugoslav Wars

• August 1992, Major hosts joint EU and UN conference in London and UN peacekeeping force was put in place
• Major widely praised at the time but there was no concerted European pressure

Owen role in Yugoslav Wars

• Oct 1992, Vance-Owen (Cyprian UN rep and Foreign Sec) plan devised a framework for a lasting settlement

Srebenica Massacre

July 1995:

• Dutch UN peacekeepers ordered not to intervene while Bosnian Serb forces enter
• more than 7000 killed
• highlighted failure of UN peacekeeping and limits of UN/EU diplomacy

when did NATO send a task force?

1995:

• Clinton forced to intervene after Sarajevo and Srebrenica massacre
• massive bombing campaign launched against Serbs

Yugoslav Wars peace conference

in Dayton, Ohio following American air strikes

Yugoslav Wars peace treaty

signed in Paris Dec 1995

• guaranteed Bosnian independence
• protected by UN force
• substantial economic support from international community

Tories in 1997 election

worst electoral defeat since 1906:

• had 165 seats
• lost 178 seats

Labour in 1997 election

landslide victory:

• had 418 seats
• gained 146 seats

Lib Dems in 1997 election

did well due to tactical voting:

• 46 seats
• 16.8% vote