Major: A Political Life

Contemporary Review, Jan, 1998 by Esmond Wright

Far from being the 'grey man', or interim Prime Minister of popular myth, John Major emerges as a knowing political operator, a quixotic and passionate individual and an important member of the exclusive club of world leaders. He had a six-and-a-half year tenure in No. 10. Only Lady Thatcher, Asquith and Macmillan had longer terms as Prime Minister this century.

Beginning with the end - Election day, May 1st 1997, the day eighteen years of Conservative government came to an end - the book goes on to document in fascinating fashion the critical points in John Major's career: Margaret Thatcher's downfall; Black Wednesday in 1992; his part in negotiations for the Irish peace process; the leadership re-election in 1995; the Major-style and what people thought of it within the Parliament and within the media; and of course the inside story of the 1997 Conservative election campaign.

John Major's career as Prime Minister was a story of extreme contrasts, from the affectionate regard in which he was held after leading Britain through the end of the Gulf War in 1991, to loathing and contempt for much of his second term. Much of Major: A Political Life is the story of a man under intense pressure, staving off not only the loss of his job but the collapse of the party towards which he feels such instinctive loyalty. He needed all his extraordinary ability to bounce back from setbacks to keep him from cracking under the strain.

This is a weighty but never a ponderous book. It is for our own times a quite essential piece of work, detailed, personal, rich in illuminating insights. John Major's last months saw the making of agonising decisions - or deciding not to make them - that were an unusual turning point in British history. Both for his detail and for his vividness of telling the story, Anthony Seldon merits our warmest thanks.

ESMOND WRIGHT