Sir John Major KG CH (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Previously the foreign secretary and then chancellor of the Exchequer in the Thatcher Government from 1989 to 1990, he was member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon from 1979 until his retirement in 2001. Since the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013, Major has been both the oldest and earliest-serving of all living former prime ministers.