The Downing Street Years (148 page)
Read The Downing Street Years Online
Authors: Margaret Thatcher
However, I was truly delighted when the results came through — John Major 185 votes, Michael Heseltine 131 and Douglas Hurd 56. Officially, John was two votes short; but within minutes Douglas and Michael had announced that they would support him in the third ballot. He was effectively the new prime minister. I congratulated him and joined in the celebrations at No. 11. But I did not stay long: this was his night not mine.
Wednesday 28 November was my last day in office. The packing was now all but complete. Early that morning I went down from the flat to my study for the last time to check that nothing had been left behind. It was a shock to find that I could not get in because the key had already been taken off my key-ring. At 9.10 I came down to the front hallway. (I was due shortly at the Palace for my final Audience with the Queen.) As on the day of my arrival, all the staff of No. 10 were there. I shook hands with my private secretaries and others whom I had come to know so well over the years. Some were in tears. I tried to hold back mine but they flowed freely as I walked down the hall past those applauding me on my way out of office, just as eleven and a half years earlier they had greeted me as I entered it.
Before going outside and with Denis and Mark beside me, I paused to collect my thoughts. Crawfie wiped a trace of mascara off my cheek, evidence of a tear which I had been unable to check. The door opened onto press and photographers. I went out to the bank of microphones and read out a short statement which concluded:
Now it is time for a new chapter to open and I wish John Major all the luck in the world. He will be splendidly served and he has the makings of a great prime minister, which I am sure he will be in a very short time.
I waved and got into the car with Denis beside me, as he has always been; and the car took us past press, policemen and the tall black gates of Downing Street, away from red boxes and parliamentary questions, summits and party conferences, budgets and communiqués, situation rooms and scrambler telephones, out to whatever the future held.
| 1979 | |
| May 3 | General election. |
| June-7 | European elections. |
| June 12 | 1979 Budget. Standard rate of income tax cut to 30per cent, top rate to 60 per cent. |
| June 28 | Tokyo G7 summit. |
| August 1–8 | Lusaka CHOGM. |
| August 27 | Assassination of Lord Mountbatten / Warrenpoint bomb. |
| October 23 | Geoffrey Howe announced abolition of remaining exchange controls. |
| November 29–30 | Dublin European Council: budget arguments. |
| December 16 | PM and Lord Carrington arrived in Washington for two-day visit. |
| December 25 | Afghanistan: USSR began invasion. |
| 1980 | |
| January 2 | Steel strike began. Ended 3 April. |
| May 5 | SAS stormed Iranian Embassy. |
| June 2 | Cabinet endorsed EC budget agreement. |
| June 22 | Venice G7 summit. |
| September 22 | Iran-Iraq War began. |
| October 10 | PM addressed Conservative Conference, Brighton: ‘The lady’s not for turning.’ |
| October 27 | First Maze hunger strike began. Ended 18 December. |
| November 4 | USA: Ronald Reagan elected President. |
| December 8 | Anglo-Irish summit in Dublin. |
| 1981 | |
| January 5 | Norman St John Stevas and Angus Maude left the Government. Francis Pym became Leader of House of Commons, John Nott to Defence, Leon Brittan joined Cabinet as Chief Secretary. |
| February 10 | NCB announced pit closures. Government announced NCB plan withdrawn on 18 February. |
| March 1 | Second IRA hunger strike begun by Bobby Sands. Ended 3 October after 10 deaths; then Chelsea Barracks bomb. |
| March 10 | 1981 Budget. |
| March 26 | SDP formed. Alliance formed on 16 June. |
| March 30 | 364 economists’ letter criticizing economic policy. |
| April 11–14 | Brixton riots. |
| May 10 | François Mitterrand elected French President. |
| July 3 | Southall riot. Toxteth and Moss Side riots 4–8 July. |
| July 20 | Ottawa G7 summit opened. |
| July 23 | Argument at public spending cabinet. |
| September 14 | Reshuffle: Ian Gilmour, Mark Carlisle and Lord Soames left the Government. Nigel Lawson, Norman Tebbit and Cecil Parkinson joined the Cabinet. Jim Prior appointed to Northern Ireland. |
| September 30 | Melbourne CHOGM opened. |
| December 13 | Poland: Martial law declared. |
| 1982 | |
| March 25 | Roy Jenkins won Glasgow, Hillhead by-election. |
| April 2 | Argentina invaded Falkland Islands. |
| April 3 | Saturday Commons debate on Falklands. Passage of UN SCR502. |
| April 5 | First naval units left Portsmouth. Lord Carrington and other Foreign Office ministers resigned. Francis Pym became Foreign Secretary, John Biffen Leader HC. |
| April 25 | South Georgia recaptured. |
| May 2 | General Belgrano sunk by HMS Conqueror. |
| May 4 | HMS Sheffield hit by an Exocet. |
| May 21 | British troops landed at San Carlos. |
| June 5 | Versailles G7 summit opened. |
| June 14 | Capture of Port Stanley. Argentinian surrender. |
| July 20 | Hyde Park, then Regent’s Park bombs. |
| July 26 | St Paul’s Thanksgiving Service. |
| September 17 | West Germany: fall of Helmut Schmidt’s Government. Helmut Kohl succeeded him as Chancellor. |
| September 20 | PM began visit to Japan/China/Hong Kong. |
| 1983 | |
| January 6 | Reshuffle: John Nott resigned. Michael Heseltine to Defence; Tom King to Environment. |
| March 23 | USA: President Reagan announced SDI. |
| May 28 | Williamsburg G7 summit opened. |
| June g | General election. |
| June 11 | New Government formed: Nigel Lawson Chancellor; Leon Brittan Home Secretary; Geoffrey Howe Foreign Secretary; Francis Pym dropped. |
| October 14 | Cecil Parkinson resigned. |
| October 25 | US invasion of Grenada. |
| November 14 | Cruise missiles arrived at Greenham. |
| December 4 | Athens European Council. |
| December 17 | Harrods bomb. |
| 1984 | |
| February 9 | USSR: death of Andropov. PM attended funeral. |
| March 8 | Miners’ strike began. |
| June 25 | Fontainebleau European Council: budget settlement. |
| July 10 | National dock strike (ended 20 July). |
| August 24 | Second national dock strike (ended 18 September). |
| October 12 | Brighton bomb. |
| October 25 | High Court ordered sequestration of NUM. |
| October 31 | India: Mrs Gandhi assassinated. |
| November 6 | USA: President Reagan re-elected. |
| November 20 | British Telecom flotation. |
| December 75 | Mr and Mrs Gorbachev visited Chequers. |
| December 19 | China: PM signed Hong Kong agreement in Peking. |
| 1985 | |
| February 20 | PM visited Washington and addressed a joint session of Congress. |
| March 5 | Miners returned to work. |
| March 11 | USSR: Mr Gorbachev new Soviet leader. PM visited Moscow for Chernenko’s funeral. |
| April 4 | PM began eleven-day tour of Far East. |
| May 2 | Bonn G7 summit opened. |
| September 2 | Reshuffle. Peter Rees, Patrick Jenkin and Lord Gowrie left the Government. Norman Tebbit new party chairman. Leon Brittan to DTI. Douglas Hurd to Home Office. Kenneth Clarke, John MacGregor and Kenneth Baker all joined the Cabinet. |
| September 9 | Handsworth riots (continued 10 September). Brixton 28 September. |
| September 16–19 | PM toured Egypt and Jordan. |
| September 25 | Plaza Accord to reduce value of the dollar. |
| October 6–7 | Broadwater Farm riot. |
| October 16–23 | Nassau CHOGM: arguments about South Africa. |
| October 24 | PM and President Reagan addressed UN GeneralAssembly. |
| November 15 | PM signed Anglo-Irish Agreement at Hillsborough. |
| December 3 | Luxemburg European Council. |
| 1986 | |
| January 9 | Westland: Michael Heseltine resigned. |
| January 24 | Westland: Leon Brittan resigned. |
| January 28 | Publication of Community Charge Green Paper. |
| April 15 | US raid on Libya. |
| May 3–6 | PM visited South Korea and attended Tokyo G7summit. |
| May 21 | Reshuffle. Keith Joseph resigned. Kenneth Bakerreplaced him as Education Secretary. |
| May 24–27 | PM visited Israel. |
| August 3 | Special London Commonwealth summit on SouthAfrica. |
| October 24 | Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Syriafollowing Hindawi affair. |
| November 13–16 | PM visited Camp David, following Reykjaviksummit. |
| December 5 | London European Council. |
| 1987 | |
| February 22 | Louvre Accord to stabilize the dollar. |
| March 28 | USSR: PM began five-day tour of USSR (ended2 April). |
| June 8 | Venice G7 summit opened. |
| June 11 | General election. |
| July 17 | USA: PM visited President Reagan in Washington. |
| October 6 | Conservative Conference: led to abandonment of decision to phase in community charge (dualrunning). |
| October 13 | Vancouver CHOGM. |
| October 19 | ‘Black Monday’. |
| November 8 | Enniskillen bomb killed 11, injured 60. |
| December 7 | PM held talks with Mr Gorbachev at Brize Norton. |
| December 8 | INF Treaty signed in Washington. |
| 1988 | |
| January 4–8 | PM toured Africa. |
| January 10 | Lord Whitelaw resigned due to ill-health. |
| March 7 | Sterling ‘uncapped’. |
| March 15 | 1988 Budget. Standard rate of income tax cut to 25per cent, top rate to 40 per cent. |
| March | NATO summit in Brussels. |
| April 6–8 | PM visited Turkey. |
| April 18 | Michael Mates’s amendment to band community charge defeated. |
| May 21 | PM spoke to General Assembly of Church of Scotland. |
| June 2 | Interest rates increased from low of 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent. |
| June 19–21 | Toronto G7 summit. |
| July 17 | Alan Walters’s return as economic adviser to PM announced. |
| July 25 | Reshuffle. DHSS split between Kenneth Clarke and John Moore. |
| July 30 | PM began eleven-day tour of the Far East and Australia. |
| August 20 | IRA bomb at Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone. PM cut short Cornish holiday. |
| September 20 | Bruges speech. |
| November 2 | PM began three-day visit to Poland. |
| November 8 | USA: George Bush elected President. |
| November 17 | PM visited Washington: farewell to President Reagan and talks with President Bush. |
| December 21 | Lockerbie bombing. |
