Thatcher’s fastest-rising star

Press, 26 July 1989, Page 10

Thatcher’s fastest-rising star

NZPA-AP London John Major, a circus trapeze artist’s son. promoted to Cabinet rank just 25 months ago, has been appointed Britain’s new Foreign Secretary. The Government’s fastest-rising star, one of the least-known members of the 22-member Cabinet, will play a . pivotal role in Mrs Thatcher’s attempt to boost her Government’s fading image midway through its third successive term. “It’s the most ambitious and as-

tonishing appointment of Mrs Thatcher’s career,” the 8.8. C. said in its main evening television news bulletin soon after the announcement was made public. Mr Major, aged 46, became Chief Secretary to the Treasury and righthand man to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, after the June, 1987, General Election. A lanky, bespectacled man who determinedly conceals his emotions, Mr Major does not easily fit conventional labels in the Conservative

Party. "The best (label) that can be offered for Mr Major is practical,” the "Financial Times” business daily newspaper commented earlier this month. Mr Major was first elected to the House of Commons in 1979 as member for Huntingdon, central England, after twice failing to win the north London seat of Camden in February and October, 1974. He was re-elected as member for Huntingdon in 1983 and 1987.