John Roy Major

Born in the family of theatrical artists and circus performers touring the country; attended Cheam Common Primary School and Rutlish Grammar School, Wimbledon (1954-1959); left school without qualifications to work as a clerk in an insurance brokerage firm; joined the Young Conservatives in Brixton; briefly worked as a laborer at David's Rural Industries; in the early 1960's took short-term laboring jobs; after a short time at the London Electricity Board, he joined the District Bank (1964) and, subsequently, Standard Bank, receiving his Banking Diploma by correspondence course (1966); was seriously wounded in a car incident while on business trip to Nigeria (1967); was elected to Lambeth Borough Council (1968-1971), representing Ferndale Ward; continued to work for Standard Bank which merged with Chartered Bank (1970) to become Standard Chartered; held a number of senior positions in the Standard Chartered Bank; unsuccessfully contested St. Pancras North in both General Elections of 1974; was returned to Parliament as Conservative MP for Huntingdonshire (1979-1983); was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Office Ministers of State (1981-1983); appointed Assistant Government Whip (1983-1984) in the administration of Margaret Thatcher; was re-elected to Parliament for the reconstituted constituency Huntingdon (1983-2001); promoted to Government Whip (1984-1985), officially serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (1984-1985); after a brief term as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (2 Sep 1985 - 10 Sep 1986), he was made Minister of State, Department of Health and Social Security (10 Sep 1986 - 13 Jun 1987); sworn in as a member of the UK Privy Council (13 Jun 1987); entered the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (13 Jun 1987 - 26 Jul 1989); succeeded Sir Geoffrey Howe as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (26 Jul 1989 - 27 Oct 1989); was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer (27 Oct 1989 - 30 Nov 1990); despite his disagreements with Thatcher over European policy, he was supported by the outgoing Prime Minister in his bid for leadership of the Conservative Party; entered the second round of the election following Thatcher's withdrawal and was finally elected Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party (27 Nov 1990 - 19 Jun 1997); appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury (28 Nov 1990 - 2 May 1997); although his appointment coincided with a long economic recession (1990-1993), the electorate reaffirmed him as Prime Minister at the General Election (9 Apr 1992: Conservative 336, Labour 271, Liberal Democrats 20, Ulster Unionists 9, Social Democratic and Labour 4, Green/Plaid Cymru Alliance 4, Democratic Unionist 3, Scottish National Party 3, others 1); formed a second administration which survived sterling dropping out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (1992) and subsequent Tory party divisions over the Maastricht Treaty and the European Union; resigned as party leader (22 Jun 1995) to reassert his authority by re-election; defeated John Redwood in the first round (4 Jul 1995) and retained his post; Britain's recovery from recession did not help Conservatives who suffered substantial defeat in the 1997 General Election; resigned as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury (2 May 1997). Biography source: [7][8]