John Major’s 1994 Code of Access to Government Information was intended to provide citizens with more information about central Government and liberalise Britain’s strict information control regime. The paper examines the impetuous behind the reform and the nature of the policy, analysing why Major chose to pursue a non-statutory Code rather than a full FOI Act. In line with Major’s dictum that the Code would need to be judged in a decades time, the paper investigates the impact of the legislation, taking the view that , although the Code did indeed open up Government information to an extent, as well as creating a more open culture within central Government, it was impeded by lack of support within Major’s Government, a low public profile and a lack of statutory force.