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John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1990. Although Major\'s leadership of the Conservative Party and Cabinet was criticised in many quarters as weak, his administration was punctuated by a series of significant policy initiatives. Within months of taking office he successfully steered the government through conflict in the Gulf.In December 1991, he negotiated an opt-out for Britain at the later stages of the European Monetary Union and rejected the social chapter at the Maastricht Summit meeting of the European Council. In December 1993 he signed the Downing Street Declaration with the Irish Taoiseach, committing Britain and Ireland to seeking a joint solution to the Northern Irish problem. His administration is likely to be remembered at least as much for its failures, however.
In particular, this included the stock market crisis known as \'Black Wednesday\' on 16 September 1992, when Britain was forced to pull out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
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