Page "John Major" Paragraph 46

At about noon on 2 May 1997, Major officially returned his seals of office as Prime Minister to The Queen.

Shortly before his resignation, he gave his final statement from 10 Downing Street, in which he said ; " When the curtain falls, it is time to get off the stage ".

Major then famously announced to the press that he intended to go with his family to The Oval to watch cricket.

Following his resignation as Prime Minister, Major briefly became Leader of the Opposition, and Shadow Foreign Secretary ( as Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who was Foreign Secretary prior to the election, had lost his seat ), and remained in this post until the election of William Hague as leader of the Conservative Party in June 1997.

His Resignation Honours were announced in August 1997.