Redwood, John Alan

▪ 1997

      As the Conservative government of British Prime Minister John Major stumbled from one crisis to the next, a young politician who had served briefly as a junior member of Major's Cabinet emerged as the leader of the Conservative Party's right wing. In any debate about the future of the free market, the European Union (EU), or the U.K.'s constitution, John Redwood was sure to be in the thick of the action—writing newspaper articles, appearing in television debates, and delivering thought-provoking speeches.

      Redwood was born in Dover, Kent, on June 15, 1951. A ferociously bright student, he was awarded one of the highly prized fellowships of All Souls College, Oxford, when he was only 21. For some years he combined academic study of philosophy with more pragmatic work in the form of a job with a leading London merchant bank, Robert Fleming & Co. As one of the young intellectuals on the Conservative right wing, he was well placed to capitalize on Margaret Thatcher's election as prime minister in 1979. Thatcher in 1983 appointed Redwood the head of her office's Policy Unit, where he became one of the driving forces behind the government's policy of privatizing state-owned industries.

      Elected as an MP for the safe Conservative seat of Wokingham, Berkshire, in 1987, Redwood had to wait only two years before becoming a junior minister at the Department of Trade and Industry and just six years before reaching the Cabinet; Major appointed him secretary of state for Wales in 1993. Two years later came the event that catapulted Redwood into the spotlight. Major, exasperated by divisions within the party, resigned as leader and challenged his critics to fight him for his post. Redwood resigned from the Cabinet and stood as standard-bearer for those right-wing MPs who wanted the government to reduce both taxes and public spending and to adopt more critical policies toward the EU.

      Although Redwood lost, he surprised many people with the vigour of his campaign and the strength of his support: 89 MPs, compared with the 218 who backed Major. Redwood had managed to build himself a base within an important section of the party and had started to dispel his reputation as a remote, passionless politician. It seemed certain that Redwood would be a strong contender for the leadership of his party, whenever Major decided to stand down.

      (PETER KELLNER)

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