the CPS was Philip van der Elst, a former Treasurer of the Oxford Union in which post he had directly succeeded Ann Widdecombe. Later when in office, Mrs Thatcher valued the CRD primarily for the way in which it communicated to the Conservative Party at large that radical political change was needed and how Britain was being transformed as a result of these changes. The CRD was a link between a reforming administration and the party on whose support it depended. It produced her general election manifestos and worked closely with her during election campaigns. The Director appointed in 1979 was Adam Ridley, who since 1974 had been Economic Adviser to the Shadow Cabinet. In 1989, the CRD co-funded a trip of David Cameron and other Conservative researchers to South Africa while under apartheid rule, alongside the Strategy Network International, which was created in 1985 to lobby against anti-apartheid sanctions. The group continued to work closely with the party leader and other senior figures. During the 2005 election campaign, the CRD was again the leader's policy secretariat, assisting Michael Howard's close advisers with the formulation of the Conservative position on key subjects and the development of the strategy for the campaign. Under the editorship of Alistair Cooke, the CRD also wrote and published the latest volume of the Campaign Guide, providing detailed policy and political attack material. David Cameron Under David Cameron the CRD was reorganised; in June 2006, Desk Officers were retitled as Special Advisers to the Shadow Cabinet and relocated to the House of Commons, while the enlarged political section and policy secretariat remained at Campaign HQ. This was reversed the following year when, in September 2007, the possibility of an early general election prompted the Party leadership to move Special Advisers back in-house to the new Campaign Headquarters at 30 Millbank. References Organisation of the Conservative Party (UK) 1929 establishments in England Organizations established in 1929 Political research institutes 1929 establishments in the United Kingdom