European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ohn major meteoric Rise Power Glenn Frankel Islington Post to his critics Britain s next ii prime minister is a dry Gray diffident Man who acts looks and in talks like the Bank clerk he once is Quot the blankets Sheet of paper Lund the Cabinet table Quot the guardian a paper once complained. But John major embodies Margaret Latcher s vision of an upwardly Mobile Iri socratic society in which the Best and lightest can Rise to the top unfettered by iss or social origins. And his Eathy kingly rapid accession to Britain a Chest office is in Many ways the ultimate indication of her philosophy. Majors Success at first glance seems lore a version of the american dream than British one a except that no american resident in modern times can claim a pc ground As Humble As his. And few Lulu claim his sense of normality he lends his two children to state schools he Las a wife who refuses to move to London and he shocks some of his More elegant civil servants by dining alone on baked leans on Toast at a local cafe on Many forking nights. His father who was 66 and nearly Blind Ihen major was born in 1943, had tried ind failed at Many strange and colourful lbs including trapeze artist vaudeville performer and minor league baseball Flayer in the United states. I much of major s childhood was spent in i two bedroom tenement apartment in Brixton one of South London a poorer but Inore respectable working class Leigh Rhoods. The family shared a Allway bathroom with other tenants and Fine of the neighbors was a cat burglar. I major says he hated High school and he left at 16 to help support his family but struggled to find work. He Drew unemployment benefits of less than 3 British pounds per week for eight months land failed the Entrance examination to be a bus conductor. I he worked As a clerk and a labourer a mixing Concrete. He once told an interviewer Quot you Haven to experienced life a unless you be had breakfast at 7 30 . At a a cafe after having already put in two hours a of hard labor. I at 18, he put his Workman s gloves a away passed an Entrance exam and a joined the Standard chartered Bank As a a Junior clerk rising steadily through 14 years id 0rke ounce his Way into conservative i arty politics first As local councilman in i Lambeth in South London. He lost two cans or parliament then won a seat i n 979 on thatchers coattails when she became prime minister. Thatcher entered office with a fairly traditional Cabinet of tory elders and Many j called Quot wets Quot a those on the party Sert. Gradually and Bru singly she weeded pm out replacing them with younger Ore Radical and in her View More competent managers. Thatcher s aides say she picked out John major with wife Norma. Major Early. He was a Young assistant parliamentary whip invited to a lunch with the Leader with about a dozen of his colleagues. When Thatcher As was her style launched into a Long lecture on economic policy they say major alone disputed what she was saying and the two engaged in a Long heated argument. His friends went away believing major s career was finished a but Thatcher liked what she saw and heard. She rewarded him in 1985 with the same Post she herself had first held in administration parliamentary undersecretary of state for social Security. A year later she appointed him social Security minister. And in 1987, after she won her third straight term in office she made him chief Secretary of the Treasury a the first of the class of 79 to join her Cabinet. Two years later Thatcher made Clear she was grooming major As a successor. She shocked the party by naming him foreign Secretary a a Post for which he had no experience. Three months later when Nigel Lawson resigned from thatchers Cabinet in protest she switched major to Lawson s Post As Chancellor of the exchequer. His friends say major impressed Thatcher because he was smart a patronizing and politically skillful in inflicting Sharp cuts on Cabinet ministers budgets without alienating them. Sceptics give another motive a Young and inexperienced heir apparent meant Thatcher could plan to hold office for Many years to come. As her protege major Dweller in thatchers Shadow and his own political beliefs remain obscure. He was a tight isted but politically sensitive Chancellor who kept interest rates in double digits and oversaw an economic slowdown that produced increased unemployment in a drive to lower inflation. Quot people must understand that if they have Jam today they May not be Able to afford butter tomorrow a he once warned. It is known he opposes capital punishment and favors More spending on schools. As a lowly member of parliament he joined the Blue Chip group of Young lawmakers on the party a left. As social Security minister he devised a draconian plan to restrict payments for extra heat to retired people during the Winter of 1987 a but backed Down four Days later after Strong Public protests. Quot he is sympathetic to the worst off in our society Quot said Timothy Raison a Quot wet Quot tory who was once majors Boss. Quot i always Felt he was at least a  major worked closely with foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd to cajole Thatcher into allowing Britain to join the european Exchange rate mechanism earlier this fall and he is expected to be More of a pragmatist on european issues than she was. Many thought he would defer to Hurd in the race to Challenge Michael Heseltine after Thatcher stepped Down last week but he jumped in instead recruiting allies with an aggressive Campaign that propelled him to Victory. One of the key themes of his Brief Campaign was his working class origins and his understanding of Quot the common  while Hurd was forced to virtually apologize for graduating from Eton and Oxford and Heseltine downplayed his own Oxford education major boasted of his own Lack of formal schooling. Many loved it. Quot the time has Long past when we want the pampered patronizing classes at the Helm Quot editorialized the Star one of Britain s Raun Chier tabloids. Major May sell less Well overseas especially when compared to his famous combative predecessor. His three months at the foreign office were said to be difficult he reportedly grew angry at the amount of material he was expected to master in a Brief time. Thatcher herself undermined him publicly at a Commonwealth conference in Malaysia last year when she denigrated a Compromise on South african sanctions he had painstakingly negotiated. Majors wife Norma 45, is a former Home economics teacher and an opera Buff who has written a biography of Joan Sutherland. She and their two teen age children live in Huntingdon some 60 Miles North of London and she Only spent one night a week at 11 Downing Street the chancellors official residence. She says she lost 14 pounds in the three months he was foreign Secretary and was reduced to tears several times by the demands the Job placed on her husband. Quot i suppose John ought to be the Center of my life but he a not because he a out of it so much of the time Quot she told an interviewer last year. A the guardian one of majors critics has conceded that he is Quot Calm and adroit Quot but complained that Quot no one still quite knows what he stands  it called him Quot the cannies candidate with drive and organization to Admire but he is the biggest  Friday november 30, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17