text: A general cooling of Conservative ardour occurred after 1974 , when Heath lost the general election to Labour and forfeited the Conservative leadership . Margaret Thatcher's shadow cabinet favoured decentralization , but not the Labour ...
  Whereas Labour party voters supported devolution in both elections , Conservative party members in 1979 declined in numbers . This vote distribution realignment ensured the defeat of Labour in that year . A second and similar point may ...
  TABLE 7 Mean marks out of 10 given by Labour supporters to the Labour Government for treatment of industrial problems in 1979 Referendum * ( See Question 8 in Appendix One ) With Party Policy Against Party Policy 6.7 6.4 TABLE 8 Voting ...