Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The Fall of Thatcher and rise of Major - Coggle Diagram
The Fall of Thatcher and rise of Major
The fall of Thatcher and her legacy
Fall of Thatcher
Economic
1987 stock market crashed following 1986 'Big Bang'
Rapid expansion of economy in 'Lawson Boom' = balance of payments issue
1990 inflation at 10.9%, higher than 1980
Political
Conservatives feared defeat at next election - loss of Eastbourne 'safe seat' Oct 1990
popularity fell after Poll Tax
divisions over economics, Europe, Thatcher's style
Sir Geoffrey Howe resignation speech
Thatcher legacy
important influence on Conservatives for next 15 years
'a very good backseat driver'
Economic developments, including 'Black Wednesday'
Economic development before 1992 election
high unemployment - rose from 1.6 million to 2.6 million, (1991-1992)
homeowners trapped in negative equity (paying mortages worth more than current value of homes.) Many repossessed
impacted traditional tory voters as well as Northern and working class
Gov policies
high public spending
half forced due to unemployment
gov borrowing used for subsidies on transport and increased spending on NHS
Black Wednesday and its impact
Cause
Britain joined ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism)
required Britain to maintain fixed exchange rate (2.95 German marks to the pound.)
ERM aim - stabilise exchange rates between different currencies in the EEC by limiting how much their value could change
Issues
Sep 1992 - British currency (together with other ERM currencies) came under pressure
Gov wanted to stay in to avoid devaluation, but pound continued to sink
Result
Norman Lamont announced decision to leave ERM live on TV 7pm
Bank of England spent huge amounts of its reserves buying up pounds
Impact
Economically
economy stabilised within short time
leaving ERM had many beneficial impacts
Politically
Conservatives no longer trusted with economy
steep drop in support for Conservatives in opinion polls
John Major's personal authority weakened
Labour party shot up in popularity polls
Major - 'beginning of the end'
The British economy after Black Wednesday
prevented Britain from having to keep up high interest rates
allowed exchange rates to float downwards, helping British exporters
unemployment rates slowed and housing market picked up
economy benefitting from impact of finanical deregulation and flexible working practises that Conservatives introduced 1979
1997 economic indicators
unemployment down
productivity up
car ownership increased, house prices fell
missing 'feel good factor' - Gov recieved little credit.
Major as a leader
Goals
unify party
ongoing hostility to Michael Hesletine
tension to those who 'betrayed maggie'
middle way for Europe and foreign affairs
Gulf War successful conclusion March 1991
speech for Britain to be 'at the heart of Europe'
deal with poll tax
removing poll tax immediately risked splitting party
November 1991 - Poll tax abandoned in favour of new council tax
meant that £1.5 billion wasted - but Major removed unpopular policy
Conservative election victory 1992
Opinion polls
Conservatives average 29%, Labour 41%, Liberals 15%
observers predicted Labour victory
Conservative campaign
old fashioned 'soapbox' politics - impromptu speeches
good, gained respect
Conservatived blamed for recession, but seen as party that could get Britain out
Results/ Conservative win
Conservatives = 336 seats, 51.6% of vote
Labour = 271 seats, 41.6% of vote
Labour viewed as 'not reformed enough' - memories of 1980s
Political sleaze, scandals and satire
'Tory Sleaze'
sex scandald
extra-marital affairs - e.g David Mellor and Tim Yeo
Corruption
Matrix Churchill had been enabled to supply arms components to Iraq (investigated by Scott Enquiry 1994.)
Leading conservatives Jeffrey Archer and Jonathon Aitken convicted of perjury
'Cash for questions'
Satire
Spitting Image presented Major a dull and boring
image of Major as well-meaning but inadequate leader
The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell
Political policies
Deregulation
coal industry 1994
Pit closures continued
1991 Heseltine announced closure of 31 pits
railways 1996
tried to privatise post office but heavy opposition and public concern
Introduced Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
public-private partnerships
meant private companies would fund infrastructure developments and then deliver public services that the State would pay for over the length of the contract
Citizen's Charter 1991
aimed to give public service users more power over the quality of services they recieved by providing info about the standards they expect
e.g in educations schools would do more testing and publish the results
BSE 'Mad Cow' Crisis
recognised as threat to human health 1996
led to British Beef being banned in Europe
Approach to Northern Ireland
Issues
Accusations of 'Shoot to kill' policy
high-profile miscarriages of justice such as Birmingham six and Guilford Four revealed
loyalists and republican 'tit for tat' killings
IRA started to target mainland Britain
e.g July 1989 - London stock exchange bombed by IRA
Political breakthrough
Major and Reynolds joint Downing Street declaration 1993
1994 IRA announced ceasefire
However
Unionists did not believe in IRA's commitment for peace
IRA went back to violent methiods - bomb attacks damaged financial district at Canary Wharf
Conservative divisions
'Back me or sack me' 1995
re-election of John Major as leader
aim - silence his critics and re-establish authority
Challenger John Redqood - backed by Thatcherites and Eurosceptics
218 Major, 98 Redwood
Criticism
Tony Blair - 'I lead my party. You follow yours'
Thatcher