He tends to be remembered for the wrong things - the Spitting Image version of him. He managed to get re-elected twice off the back of a personal popularity that sprang from a perception of him as a safe pair of hands for a country still reeling from the effects (and many mis-steps) of Thatcherism.
He scrapped the hated ‘Poll Tax’, and fought long and hard to maintain Britain’s position in Europe. The thing I always forget is that he was the youngest tory PM (I think) in history. Thatcher considered him a ‘wet’, but was also instrumental in his replacing her! Usually (confusingly) branded both a Thatcherite, and a “one nation tory”, this latter means he’s somewhere to the left of Keir Starmer…
He called an election and won, Kinock fucked it up. He acheived the largest number of votes, ever? This and the sad loss of Smith led to the rise of Blair and the New Labour manifesto. He actually marked a significant shift in UK politics, itself the tail end of Thatcher’s shift to the right. The Council Tax is, i think, his one remaining legacy in terms of policy.
I must say I’m shocked that the Tories promised us one thing and then did the exact opposite. Who would have thoughts that these paragons of virtue could not be trusted to keep their word?
Not a bad thing. Have a lot of time for John Major, he took over after Thatcher who by that point was batshit crazy. In a very honest statement called his party a bunch of backstabbing bastards and did a lot to stabilize our membership in Europe etc.
He was grey but I put him in the same bracket as Jimmy Carter, boring but a good stable leader.
It’s the likes of Ken Clarke I can’t stand, suckled at the tory tit and only after he lost power he started to be honest.
It’s a pity that it doesn’t seem clear in the UK what he actually had achieved.
As a Dutchman I always envied the Brits for having the best deal with the largest REBATE and a variety of opt outs that suited the UK best. No country will ever get such a great deal ever again in the EU.
