Fall of Thatcher, Rise of Major

Question 1

What occured in 1987 following the Big Bang and what was Lawsons response

Answer 1

Financial crash. Lawson then created Lawsons boom, causing a BoP crisis and inflation to spike to nearly 11%, an issue for a government whose main aim was low inflation

Question 2

What ‘safe’ seat did the Conservatives lose to lib dem in 1990, calling into doubt Thatchers rule

Answer 2

Eastbourne

Question 3

What policy did Margaret Thatcher try to introduce and why was it perhaps the most unpopular thing ever

Answer 3

Poll Tax-it would affect the rich and poor equally, rather than the previously progressive local goverment taxes. It was also Thatchers inability to compromise on the issue that lead to her downfall

Question 4

When was the poll tax introduced

Answer 4

The poll tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and England and Wales in 1990

Question 5

What was another issue with the polll tax, only noticed after it had been implemented

Answer 5

Many of the tax rates set by local councils proved to be much higher than earlier predicted

Question 6

Which Labour MP was jailed for 60 days for refusing to pay the poll tax

Answer 6

Terry Fields

Question 7

How many people did Thatchers opponents claim were not paying the poll tax

Answer 7

18 million

Question 8

How many people attended a poll tax protest in Trafalgar square

Answer 8

over 100,000

Question 9

How did Nigel Lawson label the poll tax

Answer 9

the one great blunder of the Thatcher years

Question 10

When was the poll tax abolished by Major

Answer 10

Early 1991

Question 11

What did an oct 1990 Gallup poll show about the elctorates opinions to Thathcer

Answer 11

She was personally respected, but many had issues with her goals and behavior, especially as inflation approached 15%

Question 12

When and why did Geoffrey Howe resign

Answer 12

1st Nov 1990 over Thatchers hostility towards European federalism and her own govts policy of the ECU(euro precursor)
He used the metaphor of trying to play cricket with the team captain having broken their teams bats, and concluded he could no longer serve

Question 13

What was the consequencee of Howes resignation

Answer 13

Michael Heseltine challenged for LEadership of the Conservative party

Question 14

Why was Heseltines challenge successful yet unsuccesful

Answer 14

Although Thatcher beat him, she did not have enough votes and so a second ballot was called.

Question 15

What happened in the second conservative party ballot in 1990

Answer 15

Thatcher was told by much of her cabinet her position was untenable so withdrew, allowing anti heseltine candidates Douglas Hurd and John Major to run

Question 16

What was Majors main aim upon taking charge of the Tory party

Answer 16

Unifiy the party from the splintering under the later Thatcher years

Question 17

What happened as soon as Major gained power

Answer 17

Conservatives jumped in popularity, partly becuase of the honeymoon period of new govt and partly becuase of how unpopular thatcher was

Question 18

How much money was lost in the poll tax debacle until it was scrapped in 1991

Answer 18

1.5 billion

Question 19

How much did the misery index decline over the course of Thatchers premiership

Answer 19

11.8%

Question 20

What could the Conservatives still rely on for the 1992 election

Answer 20

Their reputation for solving economic issues and being reliable on pecuniary matters

Question 21

What did Neil Kinnock say about the day Thatcher resigned

Answer 21

That the Labour party lost its most important electroal asset

Question 22

What issues were facing the British economy at the start of the 90s

Answer 22

Declining manufacturing output, high interest rates, rising unemployment and a fall in house prices

Question 23

What phenomomen did many homeowners find themselves in following falling house prices and why was this important for the conservative party

Answer 23

Negative equity(having to repay mortgages worth more than the cost of their house, leading to many reposessions)
This was important becuase it affected middle class homeowners, who were a traditional tory power basis, unlike the recessions of the 80s which mostly affected the working class

Question 24

How did unemployment change from 1991 to 1992

Answer 24

1.6 to 2.6 million

Question 25

What was majors solution to the economic issues before the 1992 election

Answer 25

High public spending, some of which was forced, for example through unemployment benfits, but there were also huge borrowing for things like transport subsidies and investments in the NHS

Question 26

What was the ERM and when did Britain join

Answer 26

european Exchange Rate Mechanism, joined in 1990 and pegged the pound to the German Mark in a fixed exchange rate in order to combat inflation

Question 27

What was the ERMs fixed rate of exchange in £ to marks

Answer 27

1 to 2.95

Question 28

What was Chancellor Norman Lamonts response to the ERM crisis

Answer 28

Raise interest rates, already at 10% to 12 and then 15% in order to encourage people to buy pounds. BofE also spent huge amounts of its reservers buying pounds

Question 29

What caused Black Wednesday

Answer 29

Currency speculators betting against the Pound but Majors goverment refused to devalue and kept it at the fixed rate of the ERM

Question 30

What was the ultimate resolution to the ERM crisis and was it successful

Answer 30

Britain left the ERM, with the consequences of the crisis being overall negligible, with even some benefits from leaving the ERM. However, conservative reputation nosedived over the crisis and Britain lost face. Major called it the beginning of the end

Question 31

What did the Tories lose over the ERM crisis.

Answer 31

Their reputation of being good on the economy

Question 32

How did leaving the ERM benefit Britain

Answer 32

Allowed devaluation, making exports more competitive, and allowed interest rates to be lowered, meaning more investment

Question 33

Why was the UK doing better than germany after the ERM crisis

Answer 33

Benefits of flexible working practices and deregualtion since 1979 improved efficiency and growth. America came out of recession and world trade was on the up. Germany stagnated with unification.

Question 34

How was the UK economy in 1997 and did MAjor get credit

Answer 34

unemployment was down, productivity was up and the negative equity issue had been eliminated with rising house prices Buisnesses were happy with govt policies but little of the credit was assigned to Major, with him still struggling in opinion polls

Question 35

Name the two cabinet ministers under Major who had to resign due to extramarital affairs, out of more than a dozen sex scandals Major faced in all

Answer 35

David Mellor and Tim Yeo

Question 36

What was set up in 1994 to investigate certain politicans that had been ‘economical with the truth’ in enabling arms company matrix churchill to supply arms to Iraq, and which two conservatives were convicted of perjury

Answer 36

The Scott Enquiry
Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken

Question 37

What was cash-for-questions

Answer 37

A scandal where tory mps, including Neil Hamilton, were accused of accepting money in exchange for lobbying in the house of commons on behalf of the owner of harrods, Mohammed Al Fayed,. Hamilton lost the libel case but refused to resign, to Majors annoyance, adn was eventually beaten in 1997 by an independent candidate, Martin Bell, who made sleaze the sine qua non of his campaign

Question 38

What was the public perception of Major in 1997

Answer 38

A well meaning, but inadequate, and to some degree comical leader. He remained more popular than his party though

Question 39

When were the Coal and Railway industries privatised and what was going to be privatised but then was not due to pushback

Answer 39

1994 and 1996. The post office

Question 40

What was the PFI

Answer 40

private finance intiative. public-private partnerships where private companies would fund infrastructure improvements then deliver public services the state would then pay them for

Question 41

What part of the Citizens Charter (1991), an attempt to give citizens more power over the public services they were using, was made fun of incessantly

Answer 41

The Cones Hotline-citizens could report motorway clousres without any sign of roadworks

Question 42

In 1991 how many pit closures did Heseltine announce and why was their backlash due to the locations of some of the pits

Answer 42

31, including some pits in Nottinghamshire, which stood against Scargill in 84, so was seen as a betrayal. Heseltine was forced to u turn in the short term, but they eventually went ahead.

Question 43

What was BSE and what did it result in

Answer 43

Mad cow disease-British beef banned in Europe and another nail of incomeptence in Majors coffin

Question 44

Thatchers reliance on who infuriated Chancellor Nigel Lawson, who resigned in 1989

Answer 44

Alan Waters, na economic professor as an advisor

Question 45

How did Thatcher alienate Geoffrey Howe

Answer 45

She demoted him from foreign office and he resigned a year later, over her european policy

Question 46

What did Major do in 1995, becuase of how bad divisions in the conservative party were, and what were some examples of these divisions

Answer 46

He called a leadership election ‘back me or sack me’
Divisive issues included Europe and the EEC, Right wingers wanted more radical social policies, Majors lack of conviction/ability to lead the party(89 mps voted against him in the elction which is an issue when you have a small majority)

Question 47

How did Thatcher not help John Major

Answer 47

She helped the Eurosceptic rebels by alling for a referendum over the EEC. Her 1993 memoirs were lukewarm towards him, she backed John Redwood in the 1995 leadership contest and in 1997 seemed to show more support for Tony Blair