 Major managed to survive to the end of the Parliament, leading what had effectively become a minority government, and called an election on 17 March 1997 as the five-year limit for its timing approached.Major had deliberately delayed the election until close to the last possible moment in the hope that a still-improving economy would help the Conservatives hold a greater number of seats, and that voters would be deterred from Labour by exposing the party's policies with slogans like "New Labour, New Danger".He was also accused by the opposition of proroguing Parliament earlier than usual for political purposes, to delay the publication of a report into the "Cash for Questions" scandal.