SE Academic Review 2023

33 ACADEMIC REVIEW 2023

John Major’s weak leadership and fractured party A significant cause of the Conservatives continued unpopularity was inner conflict within the Conservative Party and the perceived weak leadership of John Major, especially when compared to the unified and modernised Labour Party and the perceived strong leadership of Tony Blair. Throughout Major’s second term the Conservatives were a party in deep conflict with each other and constantly criticising Major’s leadership which weakened his standing as a prime minister. Major’s leadership over his party was weakened by Black Wednesday (as argued previously), however this was only demonstrated during the ratification of the Treaty of Maastricht. The Treaty of Maastricht was opposed by many Eurosceptic Conservative MPs; whilst the Labour opposition supported the treaty, they made attempts to use the ratification of the treaty to defeat the government and weaken the Conservative Party through a series of tactical amendments. The votes on these amendments were very close including one vote that resulted in what appeared to be a tie and led to a vote of no confidence in Major’s government. Although he won the vote, the fact the vote occurred at all weakened his authority and leadership which diminished his popularity further. Throughout his premiership Major, whilst being a popular figure nationally, was continually criticised by many prominent Conservative Party figures including Robin Harris (former member of Thatcher’s policy unit), Lord McAlpine (former party treasurer), multiple Conservative MPs and, most significantly, his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher (Butler & Kavanagh, 1997, p. 29). Although Thatcher did not openly oppose Major her contempt for his leadership was

made clear through leaks and her compliments paid to Major’s pretenders. The clearest demonstration of this was in Autumn 1996 when it was revealed to the press that, she believed Tony Blair had ‘many admirable qualities’ (Rentoul, 2002, p. 277). This opposition from prominent Conservatives undoubtably led to falling support for Major amongst Conservative voters allowing these voters to defect to Labour or the Liberal Democrats. After so much criticism faced by Major, calls for his resignation and replacement grew until 1995, when Major unexpectedly resigned the leadership of the party to face a leadership election, pre empting a speculated leadership challenge coming in November. Major’s victory in that leadership election against the Eurosceptic John Redwood did increase his authority over his party and the party’s loyalty. However, his reputation as a weak leader who failed to control his party never improved and was consistently exploited by the opposition most notably in Tony Blair’s famous soundbite during PMQs: “I lead my party, he follows his” ( The Guardian , 2007). The weakness of John Major and instability of the Conservatives was a significant factor in their eventual defeat. The constant conflicts within the party had dual effects, they weakened the credibility of Major’s leadership and Conservative policies and created an atmosphere of chaos. The greatly publicised opposition Major faced weakened the public’s opinion of his policies and added to the reasons not to vote for Major. The shambolic running of government in part due to the hung parliament may have convinced previous Conservative voters to vote instead for Labour.

“ Throughout Major’s second term the Conservatives were a party in deep conflict with each other... ”