John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntin ...

formed the first Major ministry upon the resignation of Margaret Thatcher in November 1990, after being invited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to form the next administration. Major inherited a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

Formation

The resignation of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister came on 22 November 1990, more than 11 years after she had first been elected. Former Cabinet minister

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...

had challenged her leadership earlier in November and although she fared better than him in the leadership contest, she was unable to gain an outright win and handed in her resignation, paving the way for a new Conservative leader more likely to win the next general election which was due within 18 months. The announcement of the

Community Charge The Community Charge, commonly known as the poll tax, was a system of taxation introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government in replacement of domestic rates in Scotland from 1989, prior to its introduction in England and Wales from 1990. It ...

(often referred to as the Poll Tax) during 1989 and the onset of a recession shortly before Thatcher's resignation had seen Tory support plunge in the opinion polls, most of which were showing a double-digit Labour lead and making it seem likely that

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader o ...

would be the next Prime Minister. Conservative MPs elected

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

as their new leader on 27 November 1990, and he was invited by the Queen to form a majority government the following day.

Fate

The change of leader from Margaret Thatcher to

saw a revival in Tory support, with the double-digit lead in the opinion polls for the Labour Party being replaced by a narrow Conservative one by the turn of 1991. Although a general election did not have to be held until June 1992, Labour leader

kept pressurising Major to hold an election during 1991, but Major resisted the calls and there was no election that year. The recession which began in the autumn of 1990 deepened during 1991, with unemployment standing at nearly 2.5 million by December 1991, compared to 1.6 million just 18 months earlier. Despite this, Tory support in the opinion polls remained relatively strong, with any Labour lead now being by the narrowest of margins, although Labour still made some gains at the expense of the Tories in local elections, and seized the Monmouth seat from the Tories in a by-election. Major finally called an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has oper ...

for 9 April 1992 which ended the first Major ministry. In a surprise to most pollsters, Major won the election, which led to the formation of the

Second Major ministry John Major formed the second Major ministry following the 1992 general election after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to begin a new administration. His government fell into minority status on 13 December 1996. Formation The change of ...

and a fourth consecutive Conservative term in office.

Cabinet

November 1990 – April 1992

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face. ;Notes

Footnotes

References

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Major 1 British ministries

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

1990s in the United Kingdom 1990 establishments in the United Kingdom 1992 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Ministry 1 Ministries of Elizabeth II Cabinets established in 1990 Cabinets disestablished in 1992