Editing Geoffrey Howe (section)

=== Deputy prime minister ===
In July 1989, the then little-known [[John Major]] was unexpectedly appointed to replace Howe as Foreign Secretary. Howe became [[Leader of the House of Commons]], [[Lord President of the Council]] and [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]. In the reshuffle, Howe was also offered, but turned down, the post of Home Secretary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14016127|title=Obituary: Geoffrey Howe|work=BBC News|date=10 October 2015|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322210130/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14016127|url-status=live}}</ref> Although attempts were made to belittle this aspect, Howe's move back to domestic politics was generally seen as a demotion, especially after Thatcher's press secretary [[Bernard Ingham]] belittled the significance of the deputy prime minister appointment, saying that the title had no constitutional significance, at his lobby briefing the following morning.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/yes-prime-minister-why-we-will-never-be-without-spin-doctors-2202522.html|title=Yes, Prime Minister: Why we will never be without spin doctors|last=McSmith|first=Andy|author-link=Andy McSmith|date=3 February 2011|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=8 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108072658/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/yes-prime-minister-why-we-will-never-be-without-spin-doctors-2202522.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Howe then had to give up the Foreign Secretary's country residence [[Chevening]]. The sceptical attitude towards Howe in Number 10 weakened him politically&nbsp;– even if it might have been driven to some degree by fear of him as a possible successor, a problem compounded by the resignation from the Treasury of his principal ally Nigel Lawson later in the same year. During his time as deputy prime minister, Howe made a series of coded calls on Thatcher to realign her administration, which was suffering rising unpopularity following its introduction of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]], as a "listening government".<ref name="IndObit" />