ABSTRACT
Those who subscribed to the view that ‘bashing the unions is indeed the task that lies before the Conservative Party’ (Shenfield 1975:37) were likely to have been disappointed by the circumspection shown by much of the parliamentary leadership over the issue of trade uniom reform during the latter half of the 1970s. After the 1974 election defeats, senior Conservatives recognised that if the party’s response to the experiences and problems of the Heath government was to declare ‘all-out war’ on the trade unions, and pledge to seek revenge, then it was highly unlikely to win the support of the electorate or the consent of ordinary trade unionists. The experiences of the Industrial Relations Act, and the lessons learnt as a consequence, permeated Conservative thinking and policymaking concerning trade union reform throughout the opposition years.
