Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has catapulted the most junior member of her Cabinet, John Major, into the prestigious office of foreign secretary, making him a prime contender to succeed her.
The appointment Monday of Major, the 46-year-old son of a trapeze artist, was the boldest move in Thatcher's biggest government shake-up since she took office in 1979.Worried about her Conservative Party government's sliding popularity, Thatcher named new appointees to more than half of the 22 Cabinet posts, including defense.
"The object of this shuffle was to improve the cutting edge of government," said Kenneth Baker, who was moved from education secretary to become chairman of the Conservative Party.
The previous chairman, Peter Brooke, who presided over the party's drubbing by socialists in elections for the European Parliament last month, was appointed to the Cabinet as Northern Ireland secretary. The job in the strife-torn province is largely removed from party politics on mainland Britain.
Thatcher fired two key ministers: Transport Secretary Paul Channon, accused of bumbling bomb warnings in the aftermath of the Pan Am air disaster over Scotland last Dec. 21 and of a mediocre performance during current transportation strikes, and Social Security Secretary John Moore.
Channon, an heir to the vast Guinness family brewing fortune and reputedly the richest man in the Cabinet, also is accused by critics of a lackluster performance during current strikes on British Rail and the London subway.
Two other Cabinet members, Defense Secretary George Younger and Trade and Industry Secretary Lord Young, said they were resigning to resume business careers. Young was succeeded by Northern Ireland Secretary Tom King.
Major, who was raised in south London's rundown Brixton district and left school at 16, is one of the few British foreign secretaries who has never been to college. A self-made man, Major did construction work for two years before making a career in banking.
His appointment underlined the transformation of the Conservative Party hierarchy - once the preserve of the British upper classes - since Thatcher, a grocer's daughter, took over.
"We now know, without the need for guesswork, who her chosen successor will be," London's liberal Guardian newspaper said Tuesday.
Thatcher, 63, is widely expected to retire some time after bidding for an unprecedented fourth successive term in the next election, which must be held by mid-1992.
The previous foreign secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, 62, was moved to the vacant post of deputy prime minister in what was widely seen as a demotion.
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British leadership
Here is Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet (new or reassigned members boldfaced):
Lord president of the council and deputy prime minister: Sir Geoffrey Howe
Chancellor of the exchequer: Nigel Lawson
Lord chancellor: Lord Mackay of Clashfern
Home secretary: Douglas Hurd
Foreign secretary: John Major
Welsh secretary: Peter Walker
Employment secretary: Norman Fowler
Defense: Tom King
Trade and industry: Nicholas Ridley
Chancellor of Lancaster: Kenneth Baker
Health: Kenneth Clarke
Education: John MacGregor
Scottish secretary: Malcolm Rifkind
Transport: Cecil Parkinson
Energy: John Wakeham
Lord privy seal: Lord Belstead
Social security: Antony Newton
Environment: Christopher Patten
Northern Ireland secretary: Peter Brooke
Agriculture: John Selwyn Gummer
Chief secretary to treasury: Norman Lamon