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In his memoirs, John Major comments (referring to the 1987 reshuffle in which he joined Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury):
"It is tempting to reflect on how events might have turned out if I had become chief whip[...] If that had been so[...]I would have been chief whip during Margaret's leadership contest[...]I have often wondered if I would have been able to obtain for her the few extra votes that would have enabled her to win on the first ballot."
(Chapter 5 - Into Cabinet)
Inspired by that comment, I wrote the first chapter of a timeline, the very first entry of which is below.
Fight On!
[FONT="]From [/FONT][FONT="]John Major – The Autobiography[/FONT] [FONT="]…[/FONT] [FONT="]After the [1987] election, I was amongst those tipped to be promoted to Cabinet. There were two possibilities that I could think of that I might be offered; Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip. Of these, Chief Whip seemed the most likely given my previous experience in the Whips’ Office, and so it would turn out to be. Although Nigel had tried to talk Margaret into moving me to the Treasury, she, with the backing of Willie Whitelaw, decided otherwise, promoting the Financial Secretary, Norman Lamont and appointing me as Chief Whip.[/FONT] [FONT="]…[/FONT] [FONT="]I have often wondered what might have occurred had Nigel’s view prevailed and I been moved to the Treasury. It seems likely I would have remained in the role for a couple of years, before being moved to a departmental position, perhaps to the Department of Trade and Industry. I would not, therefore, have been Margaret’s Chief Whip during the leadership election that so destroyed her political career. Could another have done better? Perhaps, although one wonders whether this would have made much difference in the long run. Indeed, perhaps the only interesting outcome to this diversion might have been that I might have been a candidate for Chancellor, which had long been my ambition, following Nigel’s resignation.[/FONT] [FONT="]…
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I have the rest of Chapter One written, which takes us up to the post-leadership reshuffle, and am starting on Chapter Two at the moment. If anyone is interested in where things go from there, I shall continue to post. If not, I shan't. My, how simple! If only all life were so straightforward!