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Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary in the Thatcher Government and was the Member of Parliament for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001. Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister, Major presided over British participation in the Gulf War in March 1991 and negotiated the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991. He went on to lead the Conservatives to a fourth consecutive election victory, winning the most votes in British electoral history with over 14 million in the 1992 general election, with a reduced majority in the House of Commons. Shortly after this, the Major Government became responsible for the United Kingdom's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) after ''Black Wednesday'' on 16 September 1992. This event led to a loss of confidence in Conservative economic policies and from thereon in he was never able to achieve a lead in the opinion polls again. Despite the eventual revival of economic growth amongst other successes such as the beginnings of the Northern Ireland peace process, by the mid-1990s the Conservatives were embroiled in ongoing sleaze scandals involving various MPs, including Cabinet Ministers. Criticism of Major's leadership reached such a pitch that he chose to resign as leader in June 1995, challenging his critics to either back him or challenge him; he was duly challenged by John Redwood but was easily re-elected. By this time, the Labour Party was seen as a reformed and credible alternative under the leadership of Tony Blair and a large number of by-election defeats eventually robbed the Government of its majority. Major went on to lose the 1997 general election in one of the largest electoral defeats since the Great Reform Act of 1832. After defeat, Major resigned as Conservative Leader and was succeeded by William Hague. He went on to retire from active politics, leaving the House of Commons at the 2001 general election. Major is the oldest living former British Prime Minister. ==Early life and education== Major was born at St. Helier Hospital in Sutton, Surrey, the son of Gwen Major, née Coates, and former music hall performer Tom Major-Ball who was 64 years old when John was born. He was christened John Roy Major but only "John" was recorded on his birth certificate. He used his middle name until the early 1980s. He attended primary school at Cheam Common and from 1954 he attended Rutlish School in Merton. In 1955, with his father's garden ornaments business in decline, the family moved to Brixton. The following year, Major watched his first debate in the House of Commons, where Harold Macmillan presented his only Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and has attributed his political ambitions to that event. He also credited a chance meeting with former Prime Minister Clement Attlee on the King's Road shortly afterwards.〔 Major left school at the age of 16 in 1959 with three O-levels in History, English Language and English Literature. He later gained three more O-levels by correspondence course, in the British Constitution, Mathematics and Economics. His first job was as a clerk in the insurance brokerage firm Pratt & Sons in 1959. Disliking this job, he quit. Major joined the Young Conservatives in Brixton at this time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.johnmajor.co.uk/page1279.html )〕 Major was 19 years old when his father died at the age of 82 on 27 March 1962. His mother died eight and a half years later in September 1970 at the age of 65. After Major became Prime Minister it was misreported that his failure to get a job as a bus conductor owed to his failing of a maths test. He had in fact passed all of the tests but had been passed over owing to his height.〔Major, John (2000) John Major The Autobiography, p.30. HarperCollins, London. ISBN 0-00-653074-5.〕〔Seldon, Anthony (1998) Major – A Political Life, p.18. Phoenix, London. ISBN 0-7538-0145-0.〕 After a period of unemployment, Major started working at the London Electricity Board in 1963 which is where incidentally his successor as Prime Minister, Tony Blair, also worked when he was young. He later decided to undertake a correspondence course in banking. Major took up a post as an executive at the Standard Chartered Bank in May 1965 and he rose quickly through the ranks. He was sent to work in Jos, Nigeria by the bank in 1967 and he nearly died in a car accident there.〔Major, John (2000) John Major The Autobiography, p.35. HarperCollins, London. ISBN 0-00-653074-5〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Major」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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