THE MAJOR PREMIERSHIP Also by Peter Dorey BRITISH POLITICS SINCE 1945 THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY AND THE TRADE UNIONS The Major Premiership Politics and Policies under John Major, 1990-97 Edited by Peter Dorey Lecturer in Politics Cardiff University pal grave macmillan First published in Great Britain 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. * ISBN 978-1-349-27609-7 ISBN 978-1-349-27607-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-27607-3 First published in the United States of America 1999 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-21839-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Major premiership: politics and policies under John Major, 1990- 97 / edited by Peter Dorey. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21839-3 (cloth) 1. Major, John Roy, 1943- . 2. Great Britain-Politics and govemment-1979-1997. 3. Conservative Party (Great Britain) I. Dorey, Peter. 1959- . DA591.M33M34 1999 941.085'9'092-dc21 98-38458 CIP Selection, editorial matter, Introduction and chapters 8. 10 and 12 © Peter Dorey 1999 Chapters 1-7, 9 and II © Macmillan Press Ltd 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 978-0-333-73681-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written pennission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the tenns of any licence pennitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging. pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 To Geoff & Audrey with love Contents List of Tables and Figure ix Notes on the Contributors X Introduction: John Major- 'One of Us'? xiii 1 Chaos or Cohesion? Major and the Parliamentary Conservative Party Philip Cowley 1 2 A Permanent Revolution in Whitehall: the Major Governments and the Civil Service Kevin Theakston 26 3 Centralisation and Fragmentation: John Major and the Reform of Local Government John Kingdom 45 4 Renewed Consultation or Continued Exclusion? Organised Interests and the Major Governments Rob Baggott and Victoria McGregor-Riley 68 5 Strategic Errors and/or Structural Binds? Major and European Integration Daniel Wincott, Jim Buller and Colin Hay 87 6 Renewed Hope for Peace? John Major and Northern Ireland Christopher Norton 108 7 Devout Defender of the Union: John Major and Devolution J. Barry Jones 126 8 The 3 Rs - Reform, Reproach and Rancour: Education Policies under John Major Peter Dorey 146 9 Rolling Back the (Welfare) State: the Major Governments and Social Security Reform Michael Hill 165 Vll Vlll Contents 10 No Return to 'Beer and Sandwiches': Industrial Relations and Employment Policies under John Major Peter Dorey 179 11 The Limits of Likeability: the Major Premiership and Public Opinion David Broughton 199 12 Despair and Disillusion Abound: the Major Premiership in Perspective Peter Dorey 218 Chronology of John Major's Premiership 250 Bibliography 255 Index 269 List of Tables and Figure Tables 1.1 Ideological support in the 1990 leadership election 3 1.2 Conservative cohesion during the Maastricht rebellions 10 1.3 Backbench attitudes to European integration 13 1.4 Elections and defections, 1990-97 15 1.5 Dissent by government backbenchers, 1945-97 19 1.6 Size of rebellions, 1992-97 20 1.7 Number of dissenting votes cast by rebellious government MPs, 1992-97 21 4.1 Green Papers and Consultative Documents under the Major government 76 4.2 Green Papers and Consultative Documents, 1976-96 77 10.1 Average hours worked per week by full-time employees in EU member states, 1996 194 10.2 Employees' views about what ought to be the primary objective of trade unions, 1989 and 1996 196 11.1 John Major's public image 205 11.2 Margaret Thatcher's public image 206 11.3 The best party to handle economic problems (poll) 211 11.4 The best party to handle problems (poll) 212 12.1 Class and voting in the 1997 election (and 1992 figures) 241 12.2 Vote by region in 1997 (and change since 1992) 242 12.3 Voter's expectations in the 1997 election 245 12.4 Issue saliency in the 1997 election 245 Figure 4.1 Consultation periods under Thatcher and Major 78 lX Notes on the Contributors Rob Baggott is Reader in Public Policy at De Montfort University, Leicester. He is the author of Pressure Groups Today (1998) and Health and Health Care in Britain (2nd edition, 1998). He has also published articles in Public Administration, Parliamentary Affairs, Policy and Politics, Journal of Social Policy, and Talking Politics. Jim Buller is a Lecturer in Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of National Statecraft and European Integration: the Conservative Governments 1979-97 (1998), and has also written a number of articles and chapters on British foreign policy and on Britain's relations with the European Union. David Broughton is Lecturer in Politics in the School of European Studies at Cardiff University. He is the author of Public Opinion Polling and Politics in Britain (1995), and was co-editor of the annual British Elections and Parties Yearbook from 1991 to 1996 inclusive. Philip Cowley is a Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Hull, and Research Secretary of the Centre for Legis­ lative Studies. He is editor of Conscience and Parliament (1998), and co-editor of the annual British Elections and Parties Review, as well as the author of articles in a range of journals, including the British Journal of Political Science, Political Studies, Party Politics, and the Journal of Legislative Studies. Peter Dorey is Lecturer in Politics in the School of European Studies at Cardiff University. He is the author of British Politics since 1945 (1995), The Conservative Party and the Trade Unions (1995), and various articles and chapters on Conservative politics in Britain. He has recently completed a rp.onograph, The Politics of Pay: Govern­ ments and Wage Determination in Post-War Britain (forthcoming), and is currently writing The Labour Party and Constitutional Reform. Colin Hay is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, and X Notes on the Contributors xi currently a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Political Science at MIT. He is also a research affiliate at Harvard University. He is the author of Re-stating Social and Political Change (1996), which was awarded the British Sociological Association's Philip Abrams Memorial Prize. Michael Hill is Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Policy and Politics at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Newcastle­ upon-Tyne. His recent publications include Understanding Social Policy (fifth edition, 1997), The Policy Process in the Modern State (1997), and Social Policy: a Comparative Analysis (1996). J. Barry Jones is Senior Lecturer in Politics in the School of Euro­ pean Studies at Cardiff University. He is the co-author (with Michael Keating) of Labour and the British State (1985) and co-editor (with Michael Keating) of The European Union and the Regions (1995). He has also written numerous articles and chapters on Welsh poli­ tics, devolution, and regionalism in Europe. John Kingdom is Reader in Politics at Sheffield Hallam Univer­ sity. He has written various books and articles on British politics, including the prize-winning Government and Politics in Britain (2nd edition, 1999). Victoria McGregor-Riley is Lecturer in Public Policy in the De­ partment of Health and Continuing Professional Studies at De Montfort University, Leicester. She is currently working on a mono­ graph on medical pressure groups. Christopher Norton is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Wolverhampton. He is currently working on a study of Nation­ alist politics in Northern Ireland since 1940. Kevin Theakston is Reader in Government at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Junior Ministers in British Government (1987), The Labour Party and Whitehall (1992), The Civil Service since 1945 (1995) and Leadership in Whitehall (1998). Daniel Wincott is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Sci­ ence and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. xii Notes on the Contributors He is the author of a number of articles on European integration, in journals such as Public Administration, Journal of European Pub­ lic Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies and International Pol­ itical Science Review. He is currently writing Politics, Law and European Integration (forthcoming, 1999). Introduction: John Major 'One of Us'? From the very outset of his premiership, John Major appeared an enigmatic character, deemed to be devoid of any coherent philos­ ophy or ideological baggage, yet confidently being claimed as 'one of us' by the left and right 'wings' of the Conservative party on the grounds that he subscribed to their particular variant of Conserva­ tism (Gilmour and Garnett 1997: 351).