The Conservative government were enduring a tough start to 1993. John Major's signing of the Maastricht Treaty, and the subsequent formation of the European Union the previous year had attracted the ire of Tory Eurosceptics such as Iain Duncan Smith, who began an attempt to block the passing of Major's European Communities Amendments Bill (which would have ratified the Treaty) through Parliament. This bill was also opposed by the Labour Party, led by John Smith, who objected to Britain's opt-out of EU provisions relating to employment law. The vocal opposition to this bill had presented a "major" dilemma to the Prime Minister: he was faced with a fighting battle against a strengthening opposition and backbenchers from his own party, one that he would almost certainly lose.
Furthermore, the Conservative Party was mired in personal scandal and sleaze. Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Mellor, had been forced to resign from his post after an expose revealed his affair with actress Antonia de Sancha, and several cabinet ministers were embroiled in dubious occurrences in their own person lives. Major had a massive challenge in attempting to distance his party, so long the champion of traditional family values, from these events, and some may even say he failed completely in this mission. Something had to change.
But what if it had, in that summer of 1993? What if John Major had called for a Conservative leadership election, just a year after his party had obtained the largest vote share in parliamentary history, and put his own position on the line in an internal battle for credibility? Would the roll of the dice have landed more securely for the Prime Minister, or would his legacy have been destroyed in a single moment? Watch and find out, as.....
THE BELL TOLLS FOR THEE, BRITAIN begins!
Furthermore, the Conservative Party was mired in personal scandal and sleaze. Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Mellor, had been forced to resign from his post after an expose revealed his affair with actress Antonia de Sancha, and several cabinet ministers were embroiled in dubious occurrences in their own person lives. Major had a massive challenge in attempting to distance his party, so long the champion of traditional family values, from these events, and some may even say he failed completely in this mission. Something had to change.
But what if it had, in that summer of 1993? What if John Major had called for a Conservative leadership election, just a year after his party had obtained the largest vote share in parliamentary history, and put his own position on the line in an internal battle for credibility? Would the roll of the dice have landed more securely for the Prime Minister, or would his legacy have been destroyed in a single moment? Watch and find out, as.....
THE BELL TOLLS FOR THEE, BRITAIN begins!