Page "John Major" Paragraph 44

Major's re-election as leader of the party failed to restore his authority.

Despite efforts to restore ( or at least improve ) the popularity of the Conservative party, Labour remained far ahead in the opinion polls as the 1997 election loomed, despite the economic boom that had followed the exit from recession four years earlier, and the swift fall in unemployment.

By December 1996 the Conservatives had lost their majority in the House of Commons.

Major managed to survive to the end of the Parliament, but called an election on 17 March 1997 as the five-year limit for its timing approached.

Major delayed the election in the hope that a still improving economy would help the Conservatives win a greater number of seats, but it did not.