with the Labour Government's policy on Scottish devolution and their socio-economic programme, had in 1976 formed the SLP. This influx of ex-SLP members served to strengthen the left of the party, to which these new members naturally gravitated. In 1979, William Wolfe stood down as SNP leader, and in the resultant leadership election Gordon Wilson was elected leader with 530 votes to 79 Group member Stephen Maxwell's 117 votes, and Willie McRae's 52 votes. The 1980s offered little hope for the SNP with poor performances in both the 1983 and 1987 General Elections. Indeed, even the party leader, Gordon Wilson lost his seat in 1987. The party took stock of these results and started to analyse its policy platform. Sillars began to grow in influence in the party and the SNP was firmly placing itself on the left of centre. Sillars argued against the idea that the party should eschew left-right politics in favour of focussing solely on independence by stating the Scottish people had to be given reasons as to why independence would benefit their lives, and that this should involve a fully developed socio-economic programme. He argued against the idea that somehow the country could be guided in a "tartan trance" to independence, as if the Scottish people could ignore the realities of the economic system in which they found themselves. Sillars was also key in moving the party to adopting a position of Independence in Europe to alleviate the "separatist" tag that the SNP's unionist opponents attached to them. Previously, the SNP had been sceptical about Scotland's continued membership of the EEC, but Sillars helped secure a firm commitment to an independent Scotland's membership. There was a minor setback in 1987 when a few members on the left of the party broke away to establish a Scottish Socialist Party (not the same one that is in existence now) but in the long-run this small party did not establish itself and it folded without threatening to make a major electoral breakthrough. As the 1980s wore on, the party managed to re-group and in 1988 the SNP managed to win the Govan seat in a by-election for the second time, with Sillars as their candidate. This was a huge upset, as the SNP overturned a Labour majority of around 19,000 and had not been expected to win. However, a hard-fought campaign using the party's sizeable activist base won through.