Events of the 1990s

By dlloydm

  • Thatcher steps down from being primeminister

    She was replaced by another conservative John Major who later replaced the poll tax with the council tax

  • The cold war ends

  • Liberation of Kuwait begins as Allies launch Operation Desert Storm

    Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and refused to withdraw. Following a massive military build up, US-led forces backed by a United Nations mandate launched 'Operation Desert Storm' to liberate Kuwait. A huge aerial bombardment preceded the ground attack on 24 February. The Iraqi army fell into headlong retreat and on 27 February, US President George Bush declared that Kuwait had been liberated. Saddam Hussein remained in power in Iraq.

  • Conservatives win the general election, returning John Major as prime minister

    A poor Labour campaign by leader Neil Kinnock squandered significant support for the opposition and helped Conservative John Major to a surprise general election victory, with a slim overall majority of 21. The Conservatives won 326 seats, Labour 271.

  • Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail

    The Channel Tunnel provided an unprecedented rail link between London and Paris, something that had been planned for over a century. The tunnel became the longest undersea tunnel in the world, measuring 50km in total, with 39km of it under the sea. Three tunnels - two for trains and one for service - lie an average of 40m below the sea bed.

  • 'Black Wednesday' forces withdrawal of sterling from the ERM

  • The European union is formed

    This replaced the EC which the UK had been in since 1972

  • First women priests are ordained by the Church of England

  • Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa

    Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

  • Dolly the sheep

    Dolly was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer.

  • Scotland and Wales vote in favour of devolution

    In two referenda, a large majority in Scotland (74.9% of those who voted), and a smaller one in Wales (50.3%), provided the basis for the creation of national assemblies with legislative powers. The assemblies first met in 1999, with the Scottish Parliament, but not the Welsh Assembly, gaining tax-varying powers.

  • Labour wins the general election, with Tony Blair as prime minister

    Tony Blair had become leader of the Labour Party in 1994 after the sudden death of John Smith. Blair continued the modernisation of the party begun by Smith. Voters responded to 'New Labour' in the 1997 election, giving the party a huge majority of 179 seats. One of the new Labour government's first acts was to give the Bank of England control of interest rates. It also embarked on a programme of far-reaching constitutional reform.

  • Britain hands Hong Kong back to China

    After more than 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese control. Britain had held the New Territories north of Hong Kong under a 99-year lease that expired in 1997, requiring the 'handing back' of the colony to China. Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy, Hong Kong retained its own legal system, currency, customs policy and immigration laws for a minimum 50 years after the handover.

  • Princess Diana's death

    In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in hospital after being injured in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris. Her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived with serious injuries.

  • Good Friday Agreement establishes a devolved Northern Irish assembly

    An agreement between Northern Ireland's nationalists and unionists was reached after 30 years of conflict, as a result British government negotiations and US pressure on Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army. It set out plans for devolved government and provided for the early release of terrorist prisoners and the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. Referenda in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland endorsed the agreement on 22 May. The assembly met on 1 July.

  • Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency