Fate
Then, on 1 November 1990, came the first of a series of events which would spell the end of Margaret Thatcher's years of power. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the deputy prime minister, resigned from the cabinet over its European policy. He then blasted Thatcher, having once been one of her closest allies, for her hostility towards the European Community. On 14 November, former cabinet minister Michael Heseltine challenged Mrs Thatcher's leadership. Thatcher polled higher than him in the leadership challenge, but failed to gain an outright victory in the first round of voting.
On 22 November, Mrs Thatcher announced her resignation of prime minister and Tory leader after more than 11 years, making way for a leader more likely to win the next general election.
Her successor was the chancellor John Major, who was elected on 27 November 1990 and at 47 became the youngest British prime minister of the 20th century.
Read more about this topic: Conservative Government 1987-1990
Famous quotes containing the word fate:
“I love Italian opera—it’s so reckless. Damn Wagner, and his bellowings at Fate and death. Damn Debussy, and his averted face. I like the Italians who run all on impulse, and don’t care about their immortal souls, and don’t worry about the ultimate.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the “disenchantment of the world.” Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from public life either into the transcendental realm of mystic life or into the brotherliness of direct and personal human relations. It is not accidental that our greatest art is intimate and not monumental.”
—Max Weber (1864–1920)
“Narcotics have been systematically scapegoated and demonized. The idea that anyone can use drugs and escape a horrible fate is an anathema to these idiots. I predict that in the near future, right wingers will use drug hysteria as a pretext to set up an international police apparatus.”
—Gus Van Sant, U.S. screenwriter and director, and Dan Yost. Father Tom Murphy (William S. Burroughs)