(1943- ), British politician and prime minister of Great Britain (1990-1997). Atypically for a Conservative Party leader, Major was born into a working-class family in London and left school at the age of 16. He worked as a banker for nearly two decades until elected to Parliament in 1979. A protégé of Margaret Thatcher, he rose rapidly through the ranks, serving as foreign secretary (1989) and chancellor of the Exchequer (1989-1990) before succeeding Thatcher as prime minister and party leader in November 1990. Like Thatcher, he maintained excellent re
elations with the United States and wholeheartedly supported the U.S.-led effort to expel Iraq from Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War (1991), but he expressed a greater willingness than she did to commit Britain to political and economic integration with Europe.
He led the Conservatives to victory in a hard-fought parliamentary election in April 1992. Major’s government then faced a growing financial crisis compounded by high inflation and unemployment, and a nationwide recession. As a result, Major’s approval rating dropped to 14 percent, the lo
owest of any prime minister in British history. In July 1995, in an attempt to solidify his party, Major resigned as leader of the Conservatives, forcing an election for a new leader. Major won again, but one-third of the party voted ag
Major’s major achievement in office was the establishment of a peaceful dialogue with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Talks with Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds in 1993 led to an IRA cease-fire in August 1994. Negotiations later stalled and the IRA resumed violence in Fe
