The Decline of the Policy for Membership in The Maastricht Period (1990–2007)

This chapter analyses the policy for membership across a ‘Maastricht Period (1990–2007)’, from the downfall of Thatcher’s government, via the agency of Geoffrey Howe, his response to Thatcher’s 1988 Bruges address, and his resignation in late 1990. The chapter also tracks the agency of John Major, his struggles over the Maastricht Treaty to the general election loss of 1997, shifting to Tony Blair’s rise to the leadership of the Labour Party in 1994, his premiership and resignation in 2007.