John Major

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John Major

• The man behind the glasses

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And the winner is ...

• John Major won the general election of 1992 to
  the surprise of many observers who thought that
  the labour party were the front runners.
• He had already been the leader since 1990 when
  Margaret Thatcher had resigned due to lack of
  support from her own MPs.

3
There may be trouble ahead

• In June 95, to counter damaging party splits,
  John Major resigned as the Conservative Leader to
  fight a battle for leadership. Easily beating
  John Redwood in the first round there was no need
  for a second, which had been expected. Major
  stayed as Party leader and Prime Minister, with
  the acceptance that leadership contests were to
  be held at the general election
• This then meant that only a small majority were
  following Major coming up to the 1997 General
  election. This small majority soon turned into a
  minority.

4
The End?

• Sadly for Mr Major it was the end. On May 1 1997
  the conservative party suffered one of the
  biggest defeats in Tory history. Labour won a
  landslide victory, winning over double the seats
  the conservatives did.
• This was not a surprise for most of the
  electorate due to the disorganised state of the
  Tory party. Tony Blair was now prime minister and
  to this day, 2005, still is.

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But there is more

• The loss led to his resignation as Leader of the
  Conservative Party. Since then Major has tended
  to take a low profile and to stay out of
  front-line politics, contributing only
  occasionally from the back benches.
• In 2001he supported his former chancellor,
  Kenneth Clarke for party leadership.

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Goodbye John

• John Major, the grey man,left the world of
  politics after the 2001 general election.
• He has so far declined the customary life peerage
  and seat in the House of Lords that is given to
  former prime ministers.
• He still however performs his duties given to him
  after the death of Diana,to be a special guardian
  to Princes William and Harry, with responsibility
  for legal matters.

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Since then...

• Major's quiet retirement was disrupted by the
  revelation in September 2002 that, prior to his
  promotion to the Cabinet, Major had had a
  four-year affair with a fellow MP, Edwina Currie.
• In 2005 John Major was knighted, he is now Sir
  John Major.

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This was brought to you by

• David Reside
• James Steadman