Too Close to Call: Power and Politics - John Major in No. 10

Summary

When John Major won the leadership of the Tory party in 1990, he listed his four priorities - inflation, unemployment, Northern Ireland and public services. He made another list for his collegaues of the problems he inherited and had to deal with immediately: Europe, the poll tax and the imminent Gulf War. Drawing on thier own detailed records, the authors tell how John Major cleared away the debris from Mrs Thatchers defeat, wrestled with the great issues of the day and won the surprise election victory of 1992. This story of life at No. 10 takes the reader to the centre of power and sheds new light on the way Britain is governed. It gives an account of hiow the political personalities of the time - Michael Heseltine, Chris Patten, Norman Lamont, Douglas Hurd, Kenneth Clarke - played their parts in the Major cabinet. It goes behind the scenes of an election campaign, with its spin-doctors, speech-writers, triumphs and disasters, offering insights into the political and economic debates of the decade.