Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9507060040 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: DATELINE: LONDON LENGTH: Short
Major won 218 votes from the 329 Conservative legislators; former Wales Secretary John Redwood won 89 votes.
Another eight Conservative legislators in the House of Commons abstained in an attempt to deny Major outright victory and force a second ballot with new contenders.
Major easily exceeded the 50-vote margin that party rules dictate he needed to defeat Redwood.
``It was the clear, absolutely conclusive result that the party was praying for,'' said Defense Secretary Malcolm Rifkind.
Bill Cash, a prominent Major critic within the party, said the election was but a starting point for healing party rifts. ``We've got to strive to find that common ground,'' Cash said.
The party leader is automatically the prime minister, and Major would have had to resign if he lost.
- Associated Press
by CNB