Prime Ministerial Constituencies Quiz

Answer: John Major

John Major, British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, was the local MP for the Cambridgeshire constituency of Huntingdon. He was ousted as prime minister (though retained his own parliamentary seat) in the 1997 general election in which the Labour party headed by Tony Blair won by a landslide.

The Exchange Rate Mechanism led Britain into what is known as 'Black Wednesday' where interest rates shot up to an astonishing 15% in order to stop the zealous marketing and trading of the British pound sterling.

The MP John Major had an extra-marital affair with was Edwina Currie.

Answer: James Callaghan

James Callaghan was the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 through 1979. During this time he led the country through what is now infamously known as the "winter of discontent" which was a prolonged period of strikes over Callaghan's policy of pay restraint.The four British great offices of state are:
Prime Minister,
Chancellor,
Foreign Secretary,
Home Secretary.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

The first ever female British prime minister (1979 - 1990) was also one of the most controversial leaders of the 20th century. The extent of the division in public opinion was evident even at the turn of the millennium with many members of the British electorate refusing to vote Conservative after how they faired under the rule of the "Iron Lady". Only in by-elections of 2008 (18 years after Lady Thatcher's rule ended) did it appear that the Conservatives were building back substantial support from the electorate; even in traditional Labour heartlands such as Crewe & Nantwich.

Answer: Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill was the prime minister of the UK on two separate occasions; firstly from 1940-1945 (during WWII) and later in the post-war period of 1951-1955. Churchill was the face of the British wartime effort against the fascist movements of Germany and Italy.

His heavily interventionist attitude was in stark contrast to the appeasing nature of his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, which made the man with one of the most famous speech impediments in modern history a perfect choice for a wartime leader.

Answer: Tony Blair

Tony Blair was the face of "New Labour" and all that it entailed; mainly the incarnation of a form of avid centrism known as the "Third Way". Many people have called this centrism a compromise between socialism and capitalism.
Blair and his long-time chancellor, Gordon Brown, initially continued with the economic policies of the preceding Conservative government led by John Major with Kenneth Clarke as chancellor. This ensured a smooth transition of power and brought the new Labour government success. Regarding Labour's social policy, there was reasonable success. Most notably, the decades long campaign by gay rights activists, including Stonewall, gained support from the vast majority of Labour MPs and resulted in legislation allowing the civil partnerships of homosexuals. This was a controversial issue for many in the religious communities and amongst ardent traditionalists.

The Labour government under Blair will forever be connected, however, with the war in Iraq. Those against the war will claim the decision to go to war as a disaster due to the tragic loss of the lives of many hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Those for the war will state that a despotic leader, Saddam Hussein, was overthrown.

Answer: Edward Heath

Conservative PM, Edward Heath, was responsible for inducting Great Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), now known as the European Union (EU), in 1973.

Answer: Gordon Brown

The first few months of Gordon Brown's premiership went rather well. One of his main highlights, along with his home secretary, Jacqui Smith, was his perceived tough stance on terrorism and crime after dealing with the car bomb incident at Glasgow Airport.

However, his fortunes seemed to turn and his popularity took a nosedive after a series of blunders and moments of incompetency. Such blunders included serious miscalculations regarding the 10p tax band and his implementation of retrospective road and car taxes. The public reaction to such blunders in what was already a period of global economic turbulence manifested in by-election losses for the government in what were considered safe Labour seats.

These losses were to the Conservatives and the SNP (Scottish National Party) in Crewe & Nantwich and Glasgow East respectively.

Answer: Clement Attlee

The medical institution in question was the National Health Service (NHS) created in 1948, just three years after WWII, and initially provided free treatment for all. Over time this idea of free treatment for all proved economically difficult to achieve and henceforth prescriptions would cost.

This institution set up under the leadership of Attlee (prime minister from 1945 through 1951) became one of the UK's greatest employers in modern times employing doctors, nurses, cleaners, pharmacists and medical scientists amongst other professions.

Answer: Neville Chamberlain

Chamberlain's policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler and fascist expansionism is one of the more well known parts of recorded history. The scene etched into the mind of every enthusiast of history and politics; Prime Minister Chamberlain clutching a document whilst surrounded by the press as he claims, in what turns out to be one of the greatest ever examples of irony, quote,"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time".

As everybody knows, peace was not quite what Europe and the wider world received. Neville Chamberlain was also featured on the cover of an edition of "Time" magazine for his activity as chancellor of the exchequer (19th June 1933 edition).

Answer: Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson, a graduate of Jesus College, Oxford, had to deal with a part of the crisis known as the Cod Wars during his premiership. This was a disagreement between the UK and Iceland regarding fishing rights. Eventually an international agreement was met with an Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) being legally recognised, but, with a set maximum of 24 trawlers from the UK entitled access to the zone.