Politics 1990-97

1992 general election - conservative %

51.6%

1992 general election - labour %

41.6%

1992 election predicition

• this was an unexpected victory for Tories - Lab ahead in the polls

• probably attribuable to Kinnock’s campaigning failures

• still a small majority victory for Conservatives

reasons for 1992 conservative victory

• Thatcher’s resignation - Labour loses its biggest electoral asset

• John Major could solve the issue over the poll tax - thatcher’s fatal policy

• Labour party not sufficiently reformed enough - Kinnock’s speech in Sheffield, presuming he had won, which incurred negative publuc reaction

Back to basics campaign

announced in 1993 - Major’s campaign to move Britain back towards old-fashioned morality, against the liberal reforms seen in the 60s and more permissive social attitudes, advocates for a return to neigbourliness and tradition

maybe appeals to the national mood concerned about crime, youth culture etc?

sex scandals

Tories plagued by sex scandals in this era eg, Heritage minister David Mellors having a mistress but Major publcily supporting him, Stephen Milligan MP’s auto-erotic asphyxiation

• sex scandals were not major’s fault, he was often surprised by them as the public was, but it reflected poorly on his party who could not stay on messgae for ‘back to basics’ undermining his social vision of tradition

sleaze under Major

eg, Mohammed Al-Fayed’s quoted saying you could buy MPs - ‘cash for questions’ lobbying for MPs to ask certain questions in Parliament

undermines loyalty of major’s MPs, politicians acting in the interests of businessmen

growing satire under Major

eg, Spitting Image, Private Eye, other newspaper cartoons etc.

a previous satire boom seen in 50s/60s - both Tory governments with prominent scandals, easy targets

undermined public confidence in the government

Major had good policy ideas that were executed badly?

eg Citizen’s charter, 1991 - intended to increase the accountability of the public sector by allowing the publuc to give feedback on hotlines

however implementation was poor, faced satire eg ‘cones hotlines’ to report roadworks without a sign of workers, seen as poor use of government money

Major’s most promising policies

educational reforms eg, Teacher Training Agency 1994, National Curriculum 1997, modernsiing the system, more centralised, less successful schools taken over

some in education did not like these reforms, but overall intended to improve. New Labour would also maker education a priority, suggesting it was a key public issue

evidenc Major was not a consensus politician

eg privatising the railroads in 1996, healthcare system reorganised as an internal market, allowing parts of the organisation to buy products/services from one another, introduced market forces

Major and PFIs

public-private partnership, private companies would fund infrastructure improvements and deliver public services that the state would pay for over the legnth of the contract

major had a tendency towards consensus

eg, PFIs, council tax (fairer than poll tax), citizen’s charter, improvements in education - seemed consnsus

WAS MAJOR TRULY CONSENSU, OR JUST IN COMPARISON TO THATCHER?

Major was UNSUCCESSFUL

poor execution of policies eg Citizen’s Charter, Back to Basicsa, opposition to privatisation, unbale to keep his party in line and on message, Black wednesday impact on image

Major was UNLUCKY

BSE (mad cow disease) scandal not his fault, could not cotnrol MPs sex scandals and sleaze, Black Wednesday timing was global issue, dealing with a divide party haunted by Thatcher’s legacy

party divisions: EUROPE

• eurosceptics saw the weak leadership of Major as an opportunity to push Britain to the edges of europe

• John Redwood challenged Major’s leadership and was backed by Eurosceptics

• Thatcher demanded a referendum on europe and the Maastricht treaty

• great difficulty ratifying Maastricht in Parliament (1992)

party divisions: THATCHER

Thatcher remaine don the backbenches and was a critic of Major’s backign his leadership rivals and even seeming to endorse Blair in 1997

her style of leadership alienated key ministers and led to high profile resignations eg, Lawson and Howe

party divisions: ECONOMY

economic issues hit traditional conservative voters eg, homeowners going into negative equity, black wednesday and ERM, undermined the image of the party as successful handlers o fthe economy

party divisions: SOCIAL ISSUES

divisions over more radical policies eg, back to basics, citizens charter - some on the right feared a move away from Thatcherism

party divisions: LEADERSHIP ELECTION

June 1995 - Major’s ‘back me or sack me’ move, resigning as party leader to force a leadership election, against Redwood who had the support of Eurosceptics and Thatcherites

BUT success - Major secured 218 vites to Redwood’s 89