Title: Boris Yeltsin | Russia | The Guardian
Headings: Boris Yeltsin
Russia
Boris Yeltsin
Jonathan Steele

Content: There was no need to negotiate with competing power structures or political leaders with different views, since there were none. The extent of a regional party secretary's room for manoeuvre was to lobby the central authorities for extra funds for his area, to build new factories, roads, or schools. A party secretary showed his worth by his efficiency in getting things done. Yeltsin was a loyal servant of the centre. When he was ordered in 1977 by the Politburo to demolish the house where the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family were murdered in July 1918, he complied readily. The house was becoming a focal point for low-key demonstrations and Moscow wanted it removed. After Gorbachev came to power in March 1985 and started his perestroika reforms, Yeltsin was invited to join the Politburo as a non-voting member. His dynamism made him seem a good man. He was put in charge of running Moscow. Although he launched himself into the new job with energy and created a populist image with well-publicised trips on buses and trams, he began to lose patience when he ran into opposition from entrenched bureaucrats.