Editing John Major (section)

== Final years in Parliament (1997&ndash;2001) ==
[[File:British Prime Minister John Major talks with Lieutenant General Michael Walker, Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps.jpg|thumb|Major talks with Lieutenant General Michael Walker in 1996]]
Speculation over Major's leadership had continued since his re-election in 1995, and intensified as it became increasingly likely that the Conservatives would suffer a landslide defeat in the upcoming general election. During this period, [[Michael Portillo]] had frequently been touted as the favourite to replace Major, but [[Portillo moment|lost his seat]] in the election, thus eliminating him from the running. Although many Conservative MPs wanted Major to resign as leader immediately because of the 1997 election loss, there was a movement among the grassroots of the party, encouraged by his political allies, to have him stay on as leader until the autumn. [[Lord Cranborne]], his chief of staff during the election, and the chief whip, [[Alastair Goodlad]], both pleaded with him to stay on: they argued that remaining as leader for a few months would give the party time to come to terms with the scale of defeat before electing a successor.{{sfn|Snowdon|2010|pp=38–39}} Major refused, saying: "It would be terrible, because I would be presiding with no authority over a number of candidates fighting for the crown. It would merely prolong the agony."{{sfn|Snowdon|2010|p=39}}

Major served as Leader of the Opposition for seven weeks while the [[1997 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership election]] to replace him was underway. He formed [[Shadow Cabinet of John Major|a temporary Shadow Cabinet]], but with seven of his Cabinet ministers having lost their seats at the election, and with few senior MPs left to replace them, several MPs had to hold multiple briefs.{{sfn|Snowdon|2010|p=39}}<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmwib/wb970517/oppo.htm |title=Weekly Information Bulletin: 17th May 1997 |publisher=House of Commons |date=17 May 1997 |access-date=26 April 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026032137/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmwib/wb970517/oppo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Major himself served as [[shadow foreign secretary]] (having served as foreign secretary for three months in 1989) and [[Shadow Secretary of State for Defence]], and the office of [[Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland]] was left vacant until after the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]] as the party no longer had any Scottish MPs.{{sfn|Snowdon|2010|p=39}}<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1545049.stm |title=Tories appoint new Scottish chairman |publisher=BBC |date=14 September 2001 |access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref> Major's resignation as Conservative leader formally took effect on 19 June 1997 after the election of [[William Hague]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gulfnews.com/today-history/june-19-1997-tories-pick-young-hague-1.2045680 |title=June 19, 1997: Tories pick young Hague| work=Gulf News |date=18 June 2007 |access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/115223.stm|title=Hague's first year – a chronology|publisher=BBC|date=18 June 1998|access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref>

Major's [[1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours|Resignation Honours]] were announced on 1 August 1997.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=54850 |supp=y|pages=8911–8914|date=2 August 1997}}<br />{{London Gazette|issue=54851 |supp=y|pages=8909–8910|date=2 August 1997}}</ref> He remained active in Parliament, regularly attending and contributing in debates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-john-major/index.html|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|title=Mr John Major (Hansard)}}</ref> He stood down from the House of Commons at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], having announced his retirement from Parliament on 10 March 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnmajorarchive.org.uk/1997-2001-parliament/mr-majors-announcement-of-his-retirement-from-the-house-of-commons-10-march-2000/ |title=Mr Major's Announcement of his Retirement from the House of Commons – 10 March 2000|publisher=John Major official site |date=10 March 2000 |access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref> [[Jonathan Djanogly]] took over as MP for Huntingdon, retaining the seat for the Conservatives at the 2001 election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2091354.stm |title=Profile – Jonathan Djangoly|publisher=BBC |date=22 October 2002|access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref>

Like some post-war former prime ministers (such as [[Edward Heath]]), Major turned down a [[Peerages in the United Kingdom|peerage]] when he retired from the House of Commons in 2001. He said that he wanted a "firebreak from politics" and to focus on writing and his business, sporting and charity work.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/962335.stm |title=Major to turn down peerage |work=BBC News |date=8 October 2000 |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>