Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I muri i te hinganga o te Conservative i te whiringa nui o Hui-tanguru 1974, ka noho ia hei Hekeretari o te Kawanatanga o Scotland i raro i a Edward Heath. I te wā i riro ai a Margaret Thatcher i a Heath hei kaiārahi Conservative, ka pūrongo te "The Glasgow Herald" i te whakapae kei roto a Buchanan-Smith i tētahi rōpū "Tories runga" e kore pea e whakaae ki te mahi i raro i a ia. I te mutunga ka noho tonu ia ki te pou i raro i a Thatcher, engari i wehe ia i te 1976, me tana minita atarangi iti a Malcolm Rifkind, i tana huri i te kaupapa here a te Rōpū Conservative ki te whakahe i te whakakorenga o Scotland. I muri mai, i arahi ia i te takoha Conservative ki te kaupapa Ae i roto i te
Te pōtitanga o te whakakorenga o Scotland i te 1979.