Major, John (redirected from John Major)

Major, John, 1469–1550, Scottish theologian and historian

Major, John, 1469–1550, Scottish theologian and historian. He studied and taught at the Univ. of Paris. His works, all in Latin, were published there. He was one of the most famous teachers of scholastic philosophy of his day, at Paris and later at the Univ. of Glasgow and at St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews. The best known of his works is Historia Majoris Britanniae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae (Paris, 1521; Edinburgh, 1740). His History of Greater Britain, both England and Scotland was the first critical history of Scotland. An English translation by Archibald Constable was published (1892) with a biography by Aeneas J. G. Mackay. Major's name was also spelled Mair.

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Major, John, 1943–, British politician

Major, John, 1943–, British statesman, b. John Major Ball. Raised in a working-class area of London, he was elected to Lambeth borough council (1968–71) and entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1979. He became Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's chief secretary to the Treasury in 1987, foreign secretary in 1989, and, later that year, chancellor of the exchequer. A Thatcher loyalist, he became her successor after she withdrew from the 1990 party elections. Diplomatic and respected, even by the opposition, he moderated the Thatcher government's controversial poll tax and its opposition to greater integration into the European Community (now the European Union). He provided military support to the United States in the Persian Gulf War (1991). In 1992, Major and the Conservatives again defeated Labour in a national election. Despite a political setback in 1992 when his government could no longer support the minimum exchange level of the pound within the exchange-rate mechanism of the European Monetary System, Major was able to win ratification of the Treaty of European Union (Maastricht Treaty) in 1993. In 1994 his government's representatives participated in the negotiation of a cease-fire in Northern Ireland. Although party infighting, policy changes, and scandals eroded his parliamentary and public support, Major was reaffirmed as Conservative party leader in 1995. After the Conservatives were defeated by Tony Blair and Labour in a landslide in 1997, Major resigned as party leader; he retired from Parliament in 2001

Bibliography

See E. Pearce, The Quiet Rise of John Major (1991).

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Major, John

(born March 29, 1943, London, Eng.) British politician and prime minister (1990–97). He was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Conservative Party in 1979 and rose quickly through the party ranks. In 1989 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher appointed him foreign secretary and then chancellor of the Exchequer. After Thatcher's reisgnation as prime minister and party leader in 1990, Major was elected as party leader, and in 1992 he led the party to a general election victory. Major's first years in office coincided with a long economic recession (1990–93). His government became increasingly unpopular, and Major himself was perceived as a colourless and indecisive leader. In 1997 the Conservatives lost by a landslide to the Labour Party, and Major was succeeded as prime minister by Tony Blair.