John Major

John Major was born in Surrey in 1943 and grew up in Brixton, leaving school at 16. He was elected to Lambeth Council at 21 and became MP for Huntingdonshire in 1979. He rose quickly under Margaret Thatcher, serving as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor, and succeeded her in November 1990. He led Britain during the Gulf War and won the 1992 election with the largest popular vote in British history but a small majority. Months later the pound was forced out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism on Black Wednesday, and divisions over Europe and allegations of sleaze weakened his government. He lost heavily to Labour in 1997 and left the Commons in 2001. He is a former Prime Minister who holds no office and comments on public affairs.

Supporters credit Major with a calmer style after the Thatcher years, the start of a long period of economic growth after 1992 and the early steps of the Northern Ireland peace process, for which he was made a Companion of Honour. Critics point to Black Wednesday, when the government spent billions trying to defend the pound, and to rail privatisation, which remains contested. His government was damaged by deep Conservative divisions over Europe and by a series of scandals that, set against his Back to Basics campaign, attracted accusations of hypocrisy. Assessments of his premiership have generally become more favourable over time.