Trivia

He became the Conservative Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1979. He was also British Prime Minister (1990-1997). He retired from the Commons at the 2001 General Election.

He has two children: Elizabeth (b. 1971) and James (b. 1975).

He is the younger brother of his biographer Terry Major-Ball and the youngest son of Tom and Gwen Major.

He was President of Surrey County Cricket Club (2001-2002).

He was created "A Companion of Honour" on his retirement from Parliament.

He is one of three former Prime Ministers to have declined a peerage, which would have given him a seat in the House of Lords. The other two were Winston Churchill and Edward Heath. Harold Macmillan declined a peerage upon his retirement from the Commons in 1964, although he accepted an hereditary peerage in 1984 and became the 1st Earl of Stockton.

He was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter on April 23, 2005, and is now known as Sir John Major.

He was educated at Rutlish Grammar School and left with 'O' levels in History, English Language and English Literature. He is one of very few British prime ministers who did not attend a university.

As British Prime Minister, he signed the controversial Maastricht Treaty in 1992, which created the European Union. Some Conservatives, including Nigel Farage, were so outraged that they left the party.

His father was a former circus Acrobat. This led many pundits and comedians to joke that Major was the first child to run away from the circus to become an accountant.

He briefly worked at the London Electricity Board in 1963 which is where incidentally his successor as Prime Minister, Tony Blair, also worked when he was young.

On Wednesday December 5, 2018 he attended former U.S. President George Bush's funeral at Washington D.C's National Cathederal.

On Saturday April 21, 2018 He attended former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush's funeral at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.

With the passing of Margaret Thatcher on April 8, 2013, Major is both the oldest and earliest-living Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Prime Minister of the UK (28 November 1990 to 2 May 1997).

Was the first Prime Minister to be younger than the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926).