An Interesting Interview with John Major!

Yes, really. Like his American contemporary George HW Bush, John Major has suffered from being sandwiched between two far more glamorous premiers and like Bush Sr this probably means he’s under-rated these days. At the time his government often looked hopelessly weak and of course it often was, riven with feuding and driven to distraction by Europe and the Thatcherite legacy. Then there was Black Wednesday and the destruction of the party’s economic credentials.

Nevertheless, all these years later it seems remarkable that Major was able to hold it all together for as long as he did. As his successors’ fate demonstrated leading the Tory party, not always a cakewalk at the best of times, was a double-whisky-before-breakfast kind of job in those days. Moreover, he at least bequeathed a healthy, bouncing economy and the Irish peace process. That’s not nothing.

Anyway, here’s a very interesting interview with Major, notable for its decency, good sense and, odd though it may strike some, its imagination and optimism.