Background ¦ Your reaction

The Background:

The Major Years reveals the inside story of John Major's leadership - from his rapid rise to power to his attempts to build a "nation at ease with itself" and unite a warring party.

A year in the making the series contains frank interviews with John Major as well as key figures from the last Conservative government.

The debate continues at BBC News Online.

Was Margaret Thatcher's behaviour "intolerable" as Mr Major suggests? Did John Major lack the leadership qualities needed to unite the party? What verdict will history deliver on his tenure?

Background ¦ Your reaction

Your Reaction:

I feel quite sorry for this man, it can't be easy to follow in the footsteps of one of the most loved and hated PM's in recent history. He's been treated atrociously by the Tories recently, possibly because they worship Thatcher to her grave and all I can say is that she destroyed our social system - healthcare and transport specifically - and how could he recover his leadership from a destructive force like that.
Nina, UK

History will think of John Major as an honest man who did a great deal in healing the naked arrogance of Thatcherism.
Vinod Dawda, UK

The best thing Major did when PM was to pull out of the ERM. Unfortunately it was forced upon us rather than a policy decision. We've never looked back. The next trick for Blair/Hague/Kennedy is to be forced out of Europe and we'll never look back again.
Peter Cross, Wales

John Major, was unfortunate to inherit a tired Conservative party, that had run out of ideas. Characters such as Heseltine, and others who hung around after Thatcher, only enhanced this feeling, and JM just wasn't brave enough to imprint his own personality on the party. I think that after a few mores years of Blairs mismanagement people will be crying out for some more government of the style of Major. Undramatic, but solid. Blair seems to go from one publicity oppertunity to the next whilst "Wee Willie", wants to be the PM when he grows up. Long time to wait William.
Jon Harford, Belgium

Do you know I actually feel sorry for Major? I voted for Labour but when it comes down to it, Major was better than Hague will ever be. He did carry out Tory policies to the letter, unlike Hague
Cecil Ashitey, England

John Major was a fine politician in that he was always able to see both sides of an issue, and whether you agreed with his point of view or not, this is a quality that most of his contemporaries seem to lack. Unfortunately, as we live in an age of style-over-content politics poor old John got pilloried for not being "sexy" or "dynamic" enough when he was a much better politician than Blair or indeed, the entire remains of the Tory party put together. John Major: A tough, determined fair-minded fish in a pool of wastrel, selfish and ultimately toothless alligators.
Dave Strong, UK

As an outsider looking in, I see Mr. Major as similar to former American President Jimmy Carter -- a man of good intentions who, unfortunately, could not lead.
James Castro, USA

I feel that John did a much better job than Tony Blair has and will ever do. He will live in the pages of history as one of the best PM's this country has ever had.
Andrew Cromwell, N Ireland

The Grey-Faced, Squeaky-Voiced, Pea-Eating character from Spitting Image
R White, UK

Give this country 5 more years of Tony Blair and people will be remembering the Major days as "the Golden Era". He did not interfere with people. Unlike both Thatcher and Blair. Why do democracies the world over hate a decent, ordinary, honest leader?
Hugh Acland, UK

John Major displayed great integrity as a human being. However it is important to remember that someone with less integrity who achieves practical results for the average person is of much greater value. Most people do not care about their politicians manner or method; but care about the end result. John Major was a failure in this department.
Richard, England

JM was weak, ineffectual and to some degree an incompetent leader. He primarily basked in Thatcher's achievements and led his party to one of its biggest election defeats in its history.
John Darcy, UK

John Major is the best one nation Prime Minister we've had since Sir Ted. It is nice to see him following traditional one nation Conservative values. These are the values of the British people! Long may people like Sir Ted Heath and John Major be in the Tory Party!
Sir Ian Mackie, Norwich, Great Britain

Major was a poodle who was not expected to win the 1992 Election. He only did because he was the only viable alternative to the Welsh windbag Kinnock. Unfortunately as PM it readily became apparent that he had been promoted well above his ability which seemed to peak as a Lambeth Councillor. However I do believe that he made his best efforts in very trying circumstances and he is fundamentally honest and decent but perhaps a bit peevish and petulant for high office.
Mike, UK

Dull? grey? Labels given by the tabloids, the ones with the reading age of 12. JM, was and is undeniable by most, an honest genuine person trying to turn a political world in which those labels tend not to apply. Looking at the likes of Norman Lamont (a stomach churning experience) making capital out of their loss of power, which was more due to their total lack of grown-up discipline on the part of some members of the party than any 'greyness' of their leader makes me cringe. A bum like that is the new type of 'Lord' we are being given. Margaret Thatcher is another, a bitter shrivelled person who is/ was no different when it comes to clinging on to power like the Pinochet she supports.
DG, UK

Mr John Major, was a man of vision. He knew what he wanted for his country. As we know certain people didn't give him a chance. Following in the footsteps of someone like lady Thatcher must of been hard to do . To be pushed some where he did not yet want to be must of been daunting. I personally think given the timing and pressure of the job and the party he did a GREAT job as Her Majesty's British Prime Minister. I wish him well in future in what ever he decides to do.
Mr K.H. Worley, Great Britain.

I think that John Major was elected Tory leader to lose the 1992 election. The Tories new the game was up and that several problems (e.g. the ERM) were coming to a head and that they wanted the then Opposition, Labour, to be in power when the dung hit the fan - because then, they would have been re-elected in 1996 for another 18 years. It can only be imagined what a field day the Press would have had with a Labour government in September 1992 after the ERM debacle. However, Major blew it by winning the election - which was good really, because I always thought that the longer it was before the Tories were finally kicked out, the longer they would be out for.
Andrew Wright, USA

When Margaret Thatcher had to go for the good of the party after the kami kase poll tax they had to find a suitable puppet to take over and whom old Maggie could manipulate to continue the policies of Thatcherism. John seemed a good intelligent lad who would do as he was told. Bad decision!
He had more ideas and was more quietly assertive than Maggie was prepared for. So the Thatcher club, who couldn't actually sack him under the circumstances, cold shouldered him out of the club - even at the cost of party unity.
Syd Bryant, UK

I always thought Mr Major was a decent man. It was a shame that he presided over a political party in terminal decline. One day Mr Blair or his successor will find himself in that same situation, such is the nature of politics.
Phil Williams, UK

Paddy Ashdown summed it up it up on election night- a decent and honourable man leading a terrible party. Also remember there were some initiatives like the PFI and Citizen Charters. Above all, his hands were tied by his party, particularly on Europe.
Keith Sinclair, Canada

Mr Major displayed great integrity. His difficulties in office are reflective of the complete lack of integrity of the so called honourable gentlemen and lady with which he had misfortune to be associated with.
Clive Robinson, Canada

Major should be remembered as the man who saved us from 5 years of a Kinnock regime. Thanks very much John - Blair is bad enough - but KINNOCK!!!
Tim, UK (but in USA)

John Major was a kind, decent and honourable man who had the impossible job of being Thatcher's successor. Alas, he led a party visibly breaking up before our eyes, and no good luck at all. He also made a terrible error - the ERM debacle, for which he should have resigned. It was the stubborn clinging to office (not without skill) from 'Black Wednesday' onwards that ensured Tony Blair's historic victory. John Major is the only post-war British Prime Minister who seemed 'a nice guy' and he deserves some sympathy and recognition from the people and their historians for that.
Roger, USA (Brit abroad!)

In 1990 it all looked rosy for Mr. Major. After 11 years of painful (but necessary) economic reform, we had a leader who could deliver post-Thatcherite social policies- tackling Health and education policy, and addressing the alarming increase in crime and immorality. Sadly he was never able to develop such an agenda because of a deep recession caused by Nigel Lawson's lunatic shadowing of the D-mark and the ERM (which everyone agreed with when we joined). Mr. Major's time in office was a lost opportunity to build on the economic foundations laid down by Mrs. Thatcher. The person to blame? Nigel Lawson for needlessly creating one of our deepest ever recessions and leading the call for ERM membership.
Harry Weinfeld, UK

I think John Major was a man on his own out of tune with an increasingly right wing party. He won his election on the back of rabid anti-Kinnock propaganda (remember "it was the Sun wot won it") but never really looked like a real Prime Minister. I lived in the US for a couple of years during this period and was embarrassed at the old fashioned (nuns on bicycles) image he gave to the UK.
Clive Grinyer, UK

To all you losers who are still pasting John Major, I found the program fascinating. He was obviously driven by his desire to do better than he did at school and to make his parents proud. Well he did alright didn't he? Prime Minister of one of the world's most powerful countries and winning a general election that no one expected him too. Fair play Mr Major, you're a real winner.
Will, England

John Major's greatest problem was longstanding and related to the fact that he was viewed by many as the cause of Mrs Thatcher's demise. How could any new Prime Minister ever live up to such a predecessor???
Nadia, England

The trouble with John Major was not just that he was too weak a personality to be an effective PM, but that he also made weak decisions - or did not make decisions at all. In my view his reign was blighted by two catastrophic yet avoidable errors.
The first - the Maastricht opt-out on the Euro, for which he has been repeatedly praised - was in truth a disaster, both for the country and the Tory Party. If Britain had been forced to chose the Euro or not back then, neither party or country would have been subjected to the long-running, continuing agony over this topic ever since. The Tory party might still be a valid political entity instead of the antediluvian cryptofascist laughingstock-come-home for the living dead it is now.
The second was of course Black Wednesday, which was an entirely unnecessary disaster. We should have adjusted our exchange rate within the ERM to a more realistic one, just as every other country entering the project had done when necessary. This would have saved our membership of ERM, got the exchange rate the country needed, saved billions of treasury money from being squandered on hopeless Canutain attempts to save the unsaveable, preserved the economic reputation of the Tory Party, cut off the "blood supply" of the europhobe tendency in the party, and indeed changed all subsequent British political history.
Jim M, UK

Is politics about power or consensus? If one believes it is about power and domination then John Major was truly a poor party leader and prime minister. However if one believes as I do that politics is about creating policies that unify and please as many people as possible then John Major was a politician and statesman.
Jonathan James Key, Britain

The media is manipulative and I am fickle: last night a documentary on John Major was aired and I am left thinking "what an interesting and good person". Undoubtedly lacking leadership skills, but an honest, good and compassionate man without ego and personal ambition. That, in itself, in the world of politics, is a minor miracle and should be celebrated.
Wendy, UK

I am amazed by the comments of Dave Adams . What country has he been living in ?? Oh yes , America . Perhaps if he actually lived here and had suffered under Blair's Nanny State he might know what he's talking about. John Major was a far better PM than Tony Blair - he appeared to be a human being for a start !
Brian, UK

Major didn't have what it takes to be a successful leader. He was also leading a party that was simply out of control. It is a shame, though, that one of his attributes - integrity - may also be forgotten if he continues with this "sour grapes" exercise.
David Austin, UK

I thought it was hilarious and criminally hypocritical when he nearly started crying on "The Major Years" whilst talking about how he screwed up his exams at school and about how people mocked his parents for being poor.
The man stood in power and allowed his government to introduce more tests for increasing younger children (more opportunity for the less academically inclined (such as himself) to be embarrassed by) and a series of policies that discriminated against the poor and people whose family lives where not "normal" (single mothers). What a pathetic little man. I have no sympathy.
Duncan Drury, UK

Major won the 1992 election unexpectedly, but then presided over the debacle of sterling's ejection from the ERM. After that event his administration was a lame duck. The Tories would have been better placed had he resigned as soon as his ERM policies had failed, and perhaps he would have been more kindly treated by history too.
Brian Mapletoft, UK

No-one was probably more surprised than John Major himself when he became PM. Intellectually dull, personality bland certainly no leader but he hung on to power with all his might. People think because of all these weaknesses that he was honest.
EG, Switzerland

As portrayed in the Muppet Show, a man who is/was totally grey. Neither black and white nor colourful, a mediocre leader of the usual bunch of back-stabbers who, given the chance, would have been just as bad!
John C, England

John Major did not lack leadership qualities. His problem was the program he wanted to lead. Conservatives have no vision of the future or how to deal with social and economic problems. His problems with Maggie Thatcher were based partially on her own love of egomania.
Come to the present and you see a great Prime Minister in Tony Blair. He has increased England's prestige one hundred fold over what it was and has helped to build the country back into a major power.
Dave Adams, USA

John Major was a truly appalling PM. He has been followed as leader of the Conservative party by another of equal "talent". Until the Conservative MP's learn to stop voting against when choosing a leader - they didn't vote for Major, they voted against Michael Heseltine, they didn't vote for Hague, they voted against Ken Clark - the Conservatives will continue to languish in opposition and rightly so. Yes, I believe I am related but distantly, I hasten to add!
Tony Hague, UK

Let's remember that Major governed for 7 years (only one year less than Wilson, for example) and apart from the first two years (remember ERM?!) did a pretty credible job as far as the economy went.
A decent and honest man, he was badly let down by the brown envelope merchants and sexual deviants that surrounded him in office. It is a fact that the wonderful economic legacy that Blair has inherited came on the back end of 7 years of Mr Major's government. In my opinion, any historian worth their salt will acknowledge this.
Ed Bayley, USA (English)

John Major showed us that politics in the UK could be played differently. Not being Margaret Thatcher was the best thing he did. However, this was a key reason for the changes made in the Labour party. I'd hate to imagine where we'd be if Thatcher was still Prime Minister. Any successor is bound to be compared to her for some time to come.
Jassim Ahmad, UK/Canada

While I found the programme very interesting, I still view Major as a weak, ineffective leader. He owed every single thing he had to Margaret Thatcher and yet he still betrayed her. She is right to have criticised him and no doubt is very sorry she ever threw her weight behind him. Major deserves every trouncing he gets, and ultimately should be airbrushed out of the picture entirely. This process has already started, to my delight...
Kate, England/Canada

History will remember John Major as above all else an honest man. Totally out of his league but did his best and did it in an honest way. Strangely though, he will remembered for doing nothing but doing it well. Britain's most surprising leader this century.
Rob Sones, UK

John Major will be remembered for the honesty, decency and dignity that he personally brought to the office of Prime Minister and Britain's place at the world stage. The greatest tragedy is that his party did not recognise the pure goodness of the man at their helm and did not capitalise on that fact.
David, United Kingdom

Well he's better then the Conservatives current utter failure called Hague. But then again that's not saying much.
Vernon Hunte, England

Any PM's reputation partly depends on who is on either side of him. Maggie, like her or not, is one of the Great peacetime Prime Ministers. So far, Blair is doing quite well, but he has not yet been tested. If Blair does well, and makes changes on the scale that Maggie did, then Major will be forgotten, but if Blair fails, history will ask why we didn't re-elect Major. Jon Livesey
Jon Livesey, USA

Undoubtedly the man who returned the country to normalcy after an age of political radicalism and darkness when dictators where praised and invited over for state visits. Surely his was a time when British foreign policy was not dictated by Washington but by the interests of the country and its peoples. Yes his only flaw was being in the Tory party of his day. One that had been contaminated by his predecessor.
Don. Christopher, U.S.A.

John Major was actually a very good PM and his Government achieved great things. Sadly, since he left office he has besmirched his own reputation with his constant carping from the sidelines so History will no doubt treat him less respectfully than may otherwise have been the case .
Harry Attman, UK

Major was an honourable, good man promoted too quickly. It is obvious he was out of his depth and achieved electoral support only because of the Thatcher legacy and the shambles of the then Labour Party. His secretary's diaries reveal the true picture of those muddled times.
AKS, UK

In the great book of history Mr Major will no doubt be filed under the Failure section . You Brits should have stuck with Mrs Thatcher , she was the best .
David I R Tygrebe, US

As the last ever Conservative PM - we hope !
Thomas Raders, UK

John Major is the most important political figure in the latter years. The biggest mistake of the English is that they did not re-elect him. Now they wish they had, but it's too late. Much like what happened with the Americans and George Bush. Some people never learn, and when they do it's the hard way! Posterity will show that England and its politics increased their strength and dignity during the Major years. Pity that Mr. Blair did not follow up...
Ulysses Christodoulou, USA

He was definitely a much better PM than the press would now have you believe. I say it candidly, but his two major problems were following hot on the heels of Mrs Thatcher and looking like one half of Little and Large.
Rob Docherty, England

John Major was useless as Prime Minister He knows it and the public know it. Having met his brother at several parties in and around London, I would certainly have picked Terry to be a better Prime Minister. Something to do with: "May the Best Clown Win"
ABDUL FEZ, Japan

I wouldn't presume to speak for anyone in the UK, but in the USA, Mr. Minor shall probably be remembered as the poor chap who made a political commercial for President George Bush in 1992, thereby delivering a few more votes to the challenger, Governor Bill Clinton. From all of us who voted for Bill Clinton, a hearty "thanks" to Mr. Minor.
Rath Andor, USA

He may have been decent but lacked leadership. He should have faced down the left of his party and gone in the direction that Hague is taking the Tories. A wholeheartedly Thatcherite party will stand much more chance of success against a centrist New Labour.
Paul Staines, UK

John Major was just unlucky; Becoming the leader of a Party that was in decline and winning an election at a time when it was better to be in the opposition.
Chee Leong, Malaysia

As Paddy Ashdown once said, John Major was a decent man, leading a truly awful party. But whilst we cannot blame him for the disloyalty of Redwood and Portillo, he is responsible for the lack of leadership that characterised his time in Downing Street. Not just leadership of the Tories, but leadership of Britain, a role in which Major was hopelessly and damagingly out of his depth. The political problems for the Tory Party that he presided over then, are every bit as present now. The people that he once said reminded him of the sound of 'men in flapping white coats' have control of today's Tory Party. The trite national legacies of the Major years, such as the Cones Hotline may be mocked, but he will be rightly criticised for such disasters as the Beef Ban and the disastrous privatisation of British Rail.
Simon James, England

Essentially a decent man doomed to failure by a thoroughly contemptible bunch of backstabbing, cowardly losers
JK, England

John Major did nothing! And strangely enough, it worked well. We can learn a lot about government from that. Bring back weak leadership, fragmented parties and slow, impotent government, say I! Alas for all he was inactive in office, he signed away the country at Maastricht, an act which IMO is nothing short of treason. In the longer term, he might be remembered something like Chamberlain coming back from Munich.
Alex Stanway, UK

The most inept prime minister in my lifetime (I am 51 years old). He continues to be one of Mr Blair's best assets.
J Keen, UK

History will be kinder to John Major than modern day commentators have been. He does have some achievements to his name such as the repeal of the poll tax and successes in the economic field. But inevitably his time in office will be seen as a period of transition between the Governments of Thatcher and Blair.
Jason Thomas Williams, UK

The current Conservative party's failure to acknowledge John Major's successes is disgraceful. Major received the largest ever-popular vote in 1992, and held together an increasingly fractious party for 5 further years. No other politician of that era could have done so. Furthermore, Major's decent and honourable style of politics were very welcome in an age obsessed by spin and image. John Major injected new life into the Tory party in 1990, though his decency and honour and extended the life of a governing party that without him would not (and should not) have won the 1992 election.
Ben Fricke, UK

A simple case of right man, wrong time!! John Major may have been the greyest man in politics but to have survived for 7 years as head of a back-stabbing sleaze ridden squabbling bunch of kids is a remarkable achievement!!! Seriously I think history will do justice to him and we always wish he had taken over from Mrs T at the end of the 80's!
CG, Scotland

John Major was a political fluke. Only Labour's inability to win the 1992 general election has made him anything other than a footnote in history. His government was incompetent, weak and dogmatic. He was simply not up to the task of modernising conservatism and so his legacy may well be the long term decline of that party: he has let the Thatcherites take it over because he could offer no sensible alternative. In that sense, if no other, he may have done Britain a favour.
Adrian McMenamin, UK

The Major Years will almost certainly be remembered as 'the morning after' the great Thatcher revolution. Major had the potential to be as great a PM as Stanley Baldwin was in his day, but he was far too hampered by a dwindling majority to be able to bring any great radicalism to British politics. Instead he had to cope with all the problems that had built up under his predecessor. This is unfortunate, especially when you consider that Major had the fourth longest continuos term of any British PM this century, no small achievement for 'the boy from Brixton.'
Tim Roll-Pickering, United Kingdom

Who was the Prime Minister of Germany who succeeded Hitler after the war but was responsible for rebuilding the shattered country in to what it was today. I bet no one knows, John Major succeeded a tyrant who was removed from office by her own party. She almost destroyed this nation and even today the country bears the scars. John Major took this country out of one of the worst economic disasters created by Thatcher.
Greg McCann, UK

As another FAILED, childish Prime Minister/MP who failed to server his country adequately. But he's not the last!!
Jason, UK

John Major was a total FAILURE. Unlike most failures who are sacked by their employers (the British people did it), he has the nerve to get his useless term turned into a BBC mini-series. The BBC already has one dinosaur show, do we need this one as well!
John P Glasgow, UK

John Major was a decent, honourable man surrounded by a bunch of back-stabbing, disloyal hypocrites who resented him being leader as he was not one of the 'establishment' and who would not become tow the Thatcher line. He had a tough task to follow Margaret Thatcher, but you have to remember he was leader for 7 years and won his second term almost single-handedly without the benefit of spin doctors.
The Tory party destroyed themselves by all the infighting and backstabbing over Europe. When the labour party took office the economy was in decent shape (they even adopted and carried on with Tory policies) therefore their task has been made so much easier. I for one was glad to see the back of Thatcher who was at the end a very unpopular leader (remember the poll tax riots) and I very much doubt that the Tories would have won another election under her leadership.
Chris W, UK

John Major showed great integrity throughout his time as Premier and maintained a dignity that is hard to hide and impossible to fake. He will, I hope, be remembered as the man who put the word compassionate back into Conservatism. His decisions were often met by scorn and he never really could win. He was indeed an honourable man whom I was proud to call my Prime Minister.
Kevin, Scotland

As Paddy Ashdown said the day after the General Election, "An honourable man in charge of a dishonourable party"
Tony Lowball, UK

History will adjudge that Major's government was undermined by the euro-sceptic element which effectively ripped the Conservative party apart. I do not believe he will be judged too harshly on his leadership qualities as that same euro sceptic element is now having to deal with a vociferous pro-Europe lobby and shows the same inability to deal with dissenters from the party line. A success that will be remembered is the effort that government took in bringing about an end to the Northern Ireland conflict.
Martin Gilbert, UK

John Major should have taken a firmer grip when the sleaze allegations arose instead of offering everyone his "full support" only to find his ministers forced from office a few days later. It might be worth remembering the property boom, albeit inherited by Major, but his later comments blaming those with mortgages for the problems caused as a result of government policy showed a remarkable disdain for those struggling to hold onto jobs and homes in the face of a severe recession.
Perhaps these two points do not seem so significant to his supporters, but they were significant to the electorate, who showed him something about disdain and "full support". I shall remember him as a man without a clue, never seeming to know what to do at any time, always wanting to wait and see. Perhaps the sun will shine tomorrow ....
Steve, UK/Netherlands

John Major was a superb Prime Minister! Everyone talks about Maggie, but it was JM who encouraged me to join the Conservative Party. I think Hague should make him Shadow Foreign Secretary! Whilst JM is still in the Party, I shall still vote Tory!
Antony Little, Norwich, UK

Who?
Kate, UK

How will history view John Major? Dull bloke who followed Thatcher and achieved nothing except co-ordinating the collapse of Toryism.
NM, UK

"Our Man in Grey" seems to be the popular image of John Major, though I think that rather unfair; he understood and maintained the fundamental economic changes initiated by the Thatcher years, yet was wise enough not to continue with the same extremes. He knew the country had had enough of radicalism (from left or right), yet stood by Thatcher's basic economic principles. The result was a "sparkling economy", the like of which the UK had not seen for decades.
Just as importantly, he also made Labour grow-up by showing them, by example, that they would remain unelectable until they shed themselves of their crazier side. A Tony Blair would never have emerged if it were not for John Major.
Mark M. Newdick, USA/UK

He will become a pub quiz question, because most people will think the long years of the Thatcher Government became the long years of the Blair Government without any leader in between.
Andrew Dowle, UK

John Major seemed like a genuine enough person who unfortunately got the daunting task of keeping the Tories together at the start of their inevitable decline after so long in power. He seemed to have a genuine interest in the greater good but had Unionists (whom he needed for a majority in parliament) pulling his strings on the Ireland issue and noisy backbenchers pulling his strings on the Europe issue. In short, he seemed to have inherited a poisoned chalice in the form of party leadership.
Matt, Ireland

I hope as a man who tried hard, who tried very hard. Taking over from Thatcher, with the economy in a terrible state, and, after 1992, having a tiny majority was always going to make government difficult; the split in the Conservative Party made it almost impossible. I think it was a great shame, because he always had to appease the party and was never able to set out his own ideals and do what he wanted to do.
Mark Rolfe, Scotland

History will remember John Major as a weak man who was not born to lead who had to take over from a strong tyrannical woman who was.
Wendy S, UK

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage | ©