Thatcher, Major, and the end of consensus 1979–1997

This episode explores how Margaret Thatcher’s arrival in 1979 shattered the post‑war consensus and reshaped Britain through a bold programme of monetarism, free‑market reforms, privatisation and supply‑side economics, transforming industry, weakening trade union power and provoking deep social and political divisions. We trace her election victories, the impact of unemployment and social unrest, and the confrontation with the miners that came to define her premiership, before examining the factors behind her dramatic fall from power in 1990. The episode then follows John Major’s attempts to steady a fractured Conservative Party amid economic pressures, internal conflict and disputes over Europe, culminating in the party’s electoral defeat in 1997 and the end of an era in British politics.