The writer is a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London
Everyone my age can remember where they were on November 22 1990, when Margaret Thatcher announced she would resign. I was a student, beavering away on an essay, when someone stuck their head around the door and shouted, “She’s gone!” before running off to spread the news more widely. Five days later, John Major topped the ballot of Conservative MPs. He became prime minister the following day, November 28.