houses and many middle class voters. All three major parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal) had entrenched support and Forman's lead looked vulnerable to tactical voting. The local Conservative leaders of the Council soon showed themselves to be resistant to concepts of modernisation that Forman espoused. Sutton was one of the few remaining councils in the UK that kept selective education and council meetings were unusual in that Conservative councillors wore ceremonial robes to "give dignity" to them. Forman soon established himself as a bright and enthusiastic MP. During his first three months in the House he asked 64 formal questions of Ministers in the Labour government. His particular interests were nuclear power, incomes policy, education policy and ministerial patronage. After the Conservatives returned to government in 1979, it was widely expected that Forman would soon obtain ministerial office. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) first to Lord Carrington in the Foreign Office and later to Douglas Hurd in the Home Office. Forman soon became known as a moderate Conservative who differed with some of Thatcher's policies. In 1980 he spoke for greatly increasing child benefits and James Prior’s attempt to have member votes bind trade unions through their voluntary agreement to do so. That year he was in the majorities who opposed reintroducing capital punishment and limiting abortion rights. He also expressed alarm at mounting unemployment arising from the government’s economic and financial policies. He frequently called for a "one nation" approach in his speeches and writings. He disapproved of government policies which promoted London-bound internal migration and were socially divisive. He favoured closer integration of Britain with the European Union. In February 1981, Labour MPs cheered him in the House when he asked the Chancellor (Howe) to act to halt the rise in unemployment. Forman advocated employment and economic policies which were broadly consistent with those pursued by the Callaghan ministry. He was seen as a Conservative opponent of Thatcherism. All this raised his profile in the House but it did not enhance his promotion prospects. In a 1983 Times piece senior Labour MP Gerald Kaufman noted that Forman had been overlooked for promotion and that his obvious abilities were not being used. In 1984 Forman stood for Chairman of the Conservative backbench finance committee, as a moderate "one nation" Tory – against incumbent right-winger Sir William Clark. Forman lost but had become clearly identified with "wets" and