WI: Major quits in 1995

POD: July 1995, John Major recieved 218 votes for the Conservative Leadership upon resigning and submitting himself for re-election, his only challenger John Redwood won 89 with 8 abstentions and 4 spolit ballots. Major had set himself a personal target of 215 votes, and had made up his mind to resign outright if he won less than 215.

This scenario follows a future if Major had recieved 10 fewer votes than he did, giving him 208 and Redwood 99.

"I knew that when John Redwood was defeated that John Major would resign both as PM and Leader. Even though John had just secured re-election as Leader, defeating Redwood in the process; the whole idea of his resignation was to inspire loyalty and reassert himself but had fallen short of his personal target of 215 votes, with 208 still enough to win but John was a man of principle and so on the 6th of July 1995, a day after the ballot he sought an audience with Her Majesty the Queen.

At 12:00 noon, John Major travelled to the Palace and at 12:45 it was made public that the Prime Minister was resigning after a new leader was elected. And so began the inevitable split leadership race, for the second time in less than a month."
- From Ryder; the autobiography of Conservative politician Richard Ryder who in 1995 was the Conservative Party Chief Whip

"The Prime Minister, John Major has shockingly resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party. Mr Major announced his resignation less than a day after winning re-election as Conservative Leader, Major cited a personal failure and wished to end his Premiership having steered the economy out of a recession and initiated domestic policy reforms.

Opposition Leader Tony Blair thanked Mr Major for his years of service and honesty in the role as Prime Minister, however Mr Blair urges whoever is elected to succeeded Mr Major to call a general election."
- BBC News at One, 6th July 1995

Who will stand?

With the departure of John Major from Number Ten, the Conservative look set to elect it's third consecutive Prime Minister. Frontrunners include the Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke, Employment Secretary Michael Portillo and Home Secretary Michael Howard. Other possible candidates include Social Security Secretary Peter Lilley and Health Secretary Virginia Bottomley.

Bookies Odds stand at

Ken Clarke 4/1
Michael Portillo 4/1
Michael Howard 4/1
Malcolm Rifkind 6/1
Virginia Bottomley 7/1
Peter Lilley 7/1
Douglas Hurd 10/1
Michael Heseltine 10/1
Tony Newton 11/1
Gillian Shepherd 12/1
Stephen Dorrell 15/1
Ian Lang 16/1
John Gummer 16/1
William Waldegrave 17/1
Brian Mawhinney 17/1

Other Cabinet Ministers are beyond 20/1

- The Sun from 7th July 1995
 
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Whoever takes over is going to have an even harder time keeping the Tories together. Major was able to just about prevent a major schism over Europe, if his successor comes from the pro-European wing of the party (ie Clark) then the Eurosceptics are going to be even more cheesed of than in OTL, if things go the other way round then Prime Minster Portillo is going to be opposed by the vast majority of the old Cabinet.

To be honest, the new Premier is going to be best off calling a General Election then and there to prevent a worse wipe out than what happened in 1997.
 
"I knew that Portillo was going to stand when I was handed an expense claim by the fees office, Portillo had claimed for 40 telephones, 40 desks and office equipment. Plus rumour had it that Portillo was renting a floor of an office block somewhere on the outskirts of Whitehall.

I deployed Fletcher and Cauldwell, two of my Whips to source out Portillo's office and keep an eye on who went there. Ken Clarke had also announced he would be standing on the morning news, within the next hour Michael Heseltine and Douglas Hurd announced they would not be standing for the leadership.

So I knew that Clarke and Portillo were standing, with the open possibility of Lilley and Howard doing so too. At the moment, I was considering supporting Ken Clarke, but overall I preferred Malcolm Rifkind if he entered. But in my position as Chief Whip, I had to remain impartial."
- From Ryder: The Autobiography of Richard Ryder

"Clarke to stand, end of the Tories?"
- Headline of the Daily Mirror, 8th July 1995

"The Tories will find themselves split between the pro European Ken Clarke and his allies Virginia Bottomley, Malcolm Rifkind and Stephen Dorrell and the forces of Euroseptics Michael Portillo, Michael Howard and Peter Lilley. All these leading figures will find themselves either in or out come the 20th of July."
- Political Analysis from former Home Secretary William Whitelaw on BBC News at One, 8th July 1995
 
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