Editing John Major (section)

== Prime Minister (1990–1997) ==
{{main|Premiership of John Major}}

=== First Major ministry (1990–1992) ===
{{main|First Major ministry}}
[[File:President George H. W. Bush and Prime Minister John Major.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister John Major and President [[George H. W. Bush]] participate in a press availability at Camp David|left]]
Major became [[prime minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] on 28 November 1990 when he accepted [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]]'s invitation to form a government, succeeding [[Margaret Thatcher]]. He inherited a [[majority government]] from Margaret Thatcher who had been the prime minister for the previous eleven years. The Conservatives' popularity was low, with some [[Opinion polling for the 1992 United Kingdom general election|polling]] showing [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]'s [[Neil Kinnock]] with a 23% lead over the Tories in April 1990 following the introduction of the Community Charge (poll tax).<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge92lab.htm |title=The 1992 General Election |work=BBC News |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> By the time of Major's appointment, Labour's lead had shrunk to 14%.<ref name="auto"/> However, by 1991, the Conservatives had narrowly retaken Labour in the polls.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/06/12/major-conservatives-in-deep-political-trouble-in-britain/228a0733-cdc1-4432-a3c2-e03f786665d8/ |title=MAJOR, CONSERVATIVES IN DEEP POLITICAL TROUBLE IN BRITAIN |author=Glenn Frankel |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=12 June 1991 |access-date=13 June 2021}}</ref>

Major's first ministry was dominated by the [[early 1990s recession]] which was believed to be caused by high interest rates, falling house prices and an overvalued exchange rate.<ref name="GDP and special events in history">{{cite news|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/gdpandspecialeventsinhistory/2016-11-25 |title=GDP and special events in history |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=25 November 2016 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> The high interest rates led to more saving, less spending and less investment in the UK's sectors.<ref name="GDP and special events in history"/> Falling house prices stalled construction in the housing sector. Economic growth wasn't re-established until early 1993.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/26/newsid_2503000/2503271.stm |title=1993: Recession over - it's official |work=BBC News |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> By December 1991, unemployment was at 2.5 million (compared to 1.6 million 18 months earlier).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1991-11-13/debates/0ad350f5-5904-491a-9eab-17139c707639/Unemployment |title=Unemployment |author=Lord Rochester |publisher=Hansard.UK Government |date=13 November 1991 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> Additionally, inflation was in double digits and interest rates reached 15%.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/gallery/2009/jan/22/recession-margaretthatcher |title=The last recession in 1990/91 |author=Julia Kollewe |work=The Guardian |date=23 January 2009 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/uk-economy-historic-recessions-a4520961.html |title=Every UK recession to have taken place in modern history: From the three-day week to the 2008 crash and the coronavirus crisis |author=Alex Lawson |work=Evening Standard |date=12 August 2020 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> However, opinion polling for Major's government remained stable during this period.
[[File:President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister John Major delivering press statements in the East Room of the White House (36) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Prime Minister John Major and President [[Bill Clinton]] deliver press statements at the White House in 1993]]
On 10 March 1992, Chancellor of the Exchequer [[Norman Lamont]] delivered his budget speech to the House of Commons, which included tax cuts widely perceived to achieve votes at the forthcoming general election. The next day, as universally expected, Major called [[1992 United Kingdom general election|an election]] for 9 April. To the surprise of many pollsters, the Conservatives won a majority on the 9 April election, with 336 seats, and earning 41.9% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |author=Martin Kettle |date=4 April 2005 |title=Pollsters taxed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/electionspast.past3 |access-date=12 August 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Past elections: 1992 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/electionspast/page/0,,1450583,00.html |access-date=12 August 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> With a high turnout, the Conservatives earned over 14 million votes which remains a record in any UK general election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 August 2021 |title=UK Election Statistics: 1918-2021: A century of elections |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf |access-date=12 November 2022 |website=House of Commons Library}}</ref> This was the Conservatives' fourth consecutive election victory. [[Neil Kinnock]] was replaced by [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]] as Labour leader and [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Sidney Blumenthal and Richard Avedon |date=28 January 1996 |title=THE NEXT PRIME MINISTER |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/02/05/the-next-prime-minister |access-date=12 August 2021 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>

=== Second Major ministry (1992–1997) ===
{{main|Second Major ministry}}
On 16 September 1992, the [[pound sterling]] crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism after the Chancellor of the Exchequer [[Norman Lamont]] had invested heavily in trying to keep it there, adjusting interest rates four times in one day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/16/newsid_2519000/2519013.stm |title=1992: UK CRASHES OUT OF THE ERM |work=BBC News |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref> This event would later be called [[Black Wednesday]]. Despite the recession finally ending in 1993, the Conservatives' popularity didn't improve. Major's second ministry was also defined by conflicts within the Conservative Party regarding [[European Union|Europe]] following the government's defeat on the [[Maastricht Treaty]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0dee56c0-fdfa-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/0dee56c0-fdfa-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Brexit: the Conservatives and their thirty years' war over Europe |author=Robert Shrimsley |work=Financial Times |date=14 December 2018 |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 December 1991 |title=European Council (Maastricht) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/dec/11/european-council-maastricht |access-date=17 May 2011 |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref>[[File:President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister John Major.jpg|left|thumb|Major and Clinton at the White House in 1994]]
On 12 May 1994, John Smith died from a heart attack and was replaced by [[Tony Blair]] who continued Labour's modernisation under the slogan of "[[New Labour]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10518842 |title=The rise and fall of New Labour |work=BBC News |date=3 August 2010 |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref> Some polling at the end of 1994 and the start of 1995 had Labour with a vote share of over 60%. The Tories remained divided over this era and in an attempt to silence his critics, Major resigned as Party leader. In the [[1995 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership election]], Major comfortably beat [[John Redwood]] in June 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pm-assails-malcontent-redwood-1588458.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pm-assails-malcontent-redwood-1588458.html |archive-date=13 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=PM assails 'malcontent' Redwood |author=Donald Macintyre |work=The Independent |date=23 October 2011 |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref> Following a string of by-election defeats, the Conservatives' majority of 21 had been eroded by 13 December 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/07/world/tories-slip-into-minority-labor-silent-on-forcing-election.html |title=Tories Slip Into Minority; Labor Silent on Forcing Election |author=Warren Hoge |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 December 1996 |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref>

In the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 election]] on 1 May 1997, Labour won a 179-seat majority, ending their eighteen years in opposition.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/labour-party-returns-to-power-in-britain |title=Labour Party returns to power in Britain |publisher=History |date=9 February 2010 |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref> This was the worst general election result of the 20th century for the Conservatives, seeing the loss of all the party's seats in Wales and Scotland. On the morning of 2 May 1997, on his final departure from Downing Street to offer his resignation to [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], Major announced his intention to step down as leader of the Conservative Party, stating in his exit speech that "when the curtain falls, it's time to get off the stage". He was succeeded as prime minister by [[Tony Blair]].