Norma Major ‘discreetly’ moved her clothes out of Downing Street in anticipation of a Labour victory

Declassified files from John Major's private secretary reveal the extraordinary level of planning that goes into a handover of power

John and Norma Major were so resigned to a Conservative party defeat by Labour in the 1997 election that Norma discreetly" moved her clothes out of Downing Street in the weeks leading up to polling day, declassified files from the National Archives show.

In an advisory note dated October 2000, Alex Allan, who had been principal private secretary to John Major and briefly to Tony Blair, wrote to Jeremy Heywood, who at the time was holding that role under Blair, advising on what ought to be done in the run-up to the next general election in 2001.