麻豆社

Bitter divisions over Europe, inflation, mad cow disease and sleaze 鈥� the final years of John Major鈥檚 government were one long disaster. Kirsty Wark reunites key figures who were in the thick of it to discuss what went wrong and whether Major could have done more to end the civil war within his party.

The man who had unexpectedly won the 1992 General Election spent much of the rest of that term trying to contain Eurosceptic antipathy, in and outside of the party. The largely loyal press had become increasingly hostile and exposes on the private lives of MPs and financial misdemeanours dominated the front pages.

By 1997, the Conservatives were a minority government and even the PM didn鈥檛 expect victory in the General Election, but the scale of their defeat by New Labour was crushing.

The guests include Kenneth Clarke, now Lord Clarke, who was made Chancellor of the Exchequer seven months after Black Wednesday and was the party鈥檚 most prominent Europhile. John Redwood, an arch Eurosceptic, says standing against John Major in the 1995 leadership contest saved the pound. Elinor Goodman was Channel 4's political editor and compares the troubled times of the late 1990s with today's Conservative Government. And Howell James was the Prime Minister鈥檚 Political Secretary, being called upon to write speeches and advise on crucial decisions. He remembers driving through London with John Major and his family on the night of the 1997 election with 鈥淭hings Can Only Get Better鈥�, Labour鈥檚 campaign anthem, ringing out across the River Thames.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for 麻豆社 Radio 4