Reply #26: Good point

[RFKHumphreyObama]

The Tories were practically disintergrating in 1997 -the endless stream of defections from the government, scandals involving MPs and divisions over Europe had basically fractured the party and ensured it was unelectable. Most of the reforms that Blair is credited for were already in the process of being implemented by Kinnock and subsequently Smith. Even if the Murdoch rags had endorsed Major in 1997, the party was in such a poor shape that I think it would have been a tough challenge for him to win another term.

A point to make here -Major was leading a minority government at the time of the 1997 election (his parliamentary majority had been eroded) and his party would have had to gain seats AND minimize losses to win the election. In the state that the Tories were in, I just don't see it happening

TB played his part in leading Labour to victory but IMO he's overrated and given much more credit than he deserves. I personally think Smith would probably have made a much better PM and probably would have been much more balanced in his embrance of "New Labour" than Tony has been.