announced he would be a candidate for re-election from the outset, and stood pledging continuity in office and the continuation of a broad-based approach to government. The only candidate to enter the race was John Redwood, who resigned from the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales. Redwood ran on a staunchly Eurosceptic, Thatcherite manifesto. Prominent Conservatives who did not stand There were several Conservatives who did not stand in the first round but were either widely expected to stand in the event of a second round or did not stand for another reason. They included: Kenneth Clarke, Chancellor of the Exchequer and on the pro-EU wing of the party Michael Heseltine, President of the Board of Trade who had challenged Margaret Thatcher in the contest of 1990 and also on the pro-EU wing of the party Norman Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and a staunch Eurosceptic Michael Portillo, Secretary of State for Employment and widely seen as the heir to the Thatcherite wing of the party Gillian Shephard, Secretary of State for Education Interest was generated when it was reported that both Heseltine and Portillo had had a large number of telephone lines installed at offices, widely presumed (and, in Portillo's case, correctly) to be a preparation for a second round bid. When this was raised during Prime Minister's Questions, Major laughingly attributed this to the effect of telephone privatisation. During the voting, Heseltine felt the need to publicly display his ballot paper to show that he had voted for Major. Campaign The period between the launch of the election and polling was short. The main interest occurred when Michael Heseltine publicly and strongly endorsed Major, which many commentators felt reinforced his position. Redwood's leadership bid came under much fire. His campaign slogan was "No change, no chance". A poster was issued on his behalf, written by Redwood's campaign manager David Evans, which urged Conservatives to vote Redwood to . At a personal level his nickname of "the Vulcan" reached prominence and much lampooning in the media, whilst his formal launch of his campaign was dismissed as a collection of all the mavericks on the right of the party, widely undermining his bid's credibility. Ballot The ballot was as follows: : Major easily won both an outright majority and the necessary 15% margin. After leaving office, he revealed that he had set a private minimum target of 215