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John Major: Making of a Prime M
Book by Anderson, Bruce
Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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November 19, 2023
In this book, we followed the life of John Major. Hailing from a working class family, his early life was described as enjoyable, although economically rough. His family economic hardship, in turn, affected his academic performances, getting invariably low scores on various subjects except on sports. This sence of academic inadequency will continued to haunt him as he came to rub elbows with Etonians and Oxbridge alumni in his later political career. Finding his various jobs dull and with no prospects, Major was attracted into politics. After competing in several failed campaign, he managed to be elected into House of Commons following Margaret Thatcher’s victory in 1979. Within parliament, he was known as a person who does not fear to voice his opinion, but only after he believed that he has enough evidence to back him. He was also served as one of the Whips, a very effective one, according to this book.
As his career steadily rose, he becamec one of The Conservatives’ rising stars. Accordingly, Thatcher groomed him as her successor, especially after a series of fallouts first with Nigel Lawson, and fatally, with Geoffrey Howe, who eventually delivered the killing blow to Thatcher’s Prime Ministership. Major first served as Chief Secretary of the Treasury, then shuffled as Foreign Secretary, before finally serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Jumping to 1990, the unpopularity of Community Charge coupled with her intransigent stance of opposing European project had turned against Margaret Thatcher. Her long time of serving as Prime Minister, the longest of all until now, had instill the false sense of security within her and closest circle, that she will never be toppled. Geoffrey Howe’s surpise resignation speech galvanized Thatcher’s detractors, and sometime after that Michael Heseltine launched a leadership challenge against her.
After failing to win the leadership election in the first round, Thatcher saw the writing on the wall and retired from the race, and, in her desire to ensure that Heseltine lose, threw her support behind John Major. While Thatcher’s support by no means inconsequential, Major’s campaign team was proven to be meticulously canvassing Tory MPs into supporting him, and this book detailed the processes and actors behind John Major’s victory. Rather unfairly caricatured by popular satire Spitting Image as timid, unimpressive, and boring (his puppet was the only gray-coloured puppet in the whole show), John Major served as a breath of fresh air after Margaret Thatcher’s 11 years, John Major acted fast in abolishing Community Charge and introducing Council Tax. In foreign policy, he gave good performance during the Gulf War, establishing good relation with George H. Bush. His mild-manner, and seeking of everybody’s opinions while making decisions are also often contrasted with Thatcher’s more domineering attitude towards her colleagues. The book ends with the John Major teams preparations for incoming 1992 general election.
After reading this book, I found Spitting Image’s satire partly true. This was due to fact that this book, despite being John Major’s biography, spends quite significant time discussing other things, such as how various ministerial positions work and the machinations of Conservative Party, and even Margaret Thatcher’s final days, although to be fair, this contributed to Major’s rise to power. This various things too, ended up being more informative and exciting reading rather than the life of John Major himself.
As his career steadily rose, he becamec one of The Conservatives’ rising stars. Accordingly, Thatcher groomed him as her successor, especially after a series of fallouts first with Nigel Lawson, and fatally, with Geoffrey Howe, who eventually delivered the killing blow to Thatcher’s Prime Ministership. Major first served as Chief Secretary of the Treasury, then shuffled as Foreign Secretary, before finally serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Jumping to 1990, the unpopularity of Community Charge coupled with her intransigent stance of opposing European project had turned against Margaret Thatcher. Her long time of serving as Prime Minister, the longest of all until now, had instill the false sense of security within her and closest circle, that she will never be toppled. Geoffrey Howe’s surpise resignation speech galvanized Thatcher’s detractors, and sometime after that Michael Heseltine launched a leadership challenge against her.
After failing to win the leadership election in the first round, Thatcher saw the writing on the wall and retired from the race, and, in her desire to ensure that Heseltine lose, threw her support behind John Major. While Thatcher’s support by no means inconsequential, Major’s campaign team was proven to be meticulously canvassing Tory MPs into supporting him, and this book detailed the processes and actors behind John Major’s victory. Rather unfairly caricatured by popular satire Spitting Image as timid, unimpressive, and boring (his puppet was the only gray-coloured puppet in the whole show), John Major served as a breath of fresh air after Margaret Thatcher’s 11 years, John Major acted fast in abolishing Community Charge and introducing Council Tax. In foreign policy, he gave good performance during the Gulf War, establishing good relation with George H. Bush. His mild-manner, and seeking of everybody’s opinions while making decisions are also often contrasted with Thatcher’s more domineering attitude towards her colleagues. The book ends with the John Major teams preparations for incoming 1992 general election.
After reading this book, I found Spitting Image’s satire partly true. This was due to fact that this book, despite being John Major’s biography, spends quite significant time discussing other things, such as how various ministerial positions work and the machinations of Conservative Party, and even Margaret Thatcher’s final days, although to be fair, this contributed to Major’s rise to power. This various things too, ended up being more informative and exciting reading rather than the life of John Major himself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review