votes, which he had exceeded by only three, and stated that he had made up his mind to resign outright if he had failed to meet this threshold. Consequences No further leadership elections took place until after the Conservatives lost the 1997 general election in the face of a Labour landslide under Tony Blair. The party temporarily reunited. Michael Heseltine had given Major staunch support in the contest, and as a result was promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister. However, many believed that Heseltine had missed his last chance to become Prime Minister, as he was now in his sixties. Portillo's failure to stand was widely felt to have cost him dearly. Redwood emerged as a clear alternative leader of the right of the party whilst many argued Portillo had lacked the nerve to make a first round challenge and potentially allowed Major to survive. William Hague, aged only 34 at the time, was promoted to the Cabinet to Redwood's position as Welsh Secretary. When Major resigned as leader after losing the 1997 general election, Hague was thus in a position to stand for, and win, the leadership. References External links BBC On This Day 4 July 1995 Conservative leadership election 1995 John Major Conservative Party leadership election