of his interventions was an attempt to promote the local character of independent radio stations along the lines of the former offshore stations like Radio 270 (see below). In 1970 he engaged as his secretary one Christine Holman, who was later to marry the politician Neil Hamilton and become famous under her married name. Proudfoot's attempts to find himself another seat in Parliament after 1974 were unsuccessful. However, he held a number of senior offices in Conservative Party bodies in the Yorkshire area. Radio 270 In 1965 a group of local businessmen formed a consortium to promote a new pirate radio station to serve the North East coast from a ship to be anchored off Scarborough. After reading about this venture in a local newspaper, Proudfoot joined it and soon became its managing director. He was credited with putting the venture on a sound business footing. He established the business as a limited company (Ellambar Investments Ltd) and attracted a large number of investors after addressing a public meeting at a Scarborough hotel. He warned investors that the venture was a high risk one and they should not expect a commercial return. Proudfoot's immediate influence on programming was to drop a plan to broadcast a mixture of light music and lifestyle material in favour of a simple Top 40 format. A 30-year-old, 150 tonne fishing vessel named Oceaan 7 was acquired and fitted out with a 10 kW radio transmitter for a total cost of £75,000. The radio station was named Radio 270 and it was run from Proudfoot's business headquarters in Scalby Road, Scarborough. Oceaan 7 was registered in Honduras in the name of Radio 270's programme director Noel Miller (an Australian national). The station broadcast from June 1966 until August 1967. Although it attracted a large body of regular listeners (up to 4 million was claimed) its affairs were controversial. One issue was that Oceaan 7 was too small to operate comfortably off the exposed North East coast. By way of comparison with Radio 270's operation, Radio London ("the Big L") broadcast from the 650 tonne MV Galaxy in the sheltered Thames estuary. After Oceaan 7 nearly sank in a winter storm, several of the ship's crew and disc jockeys threatened to mutiny. There were ongoing arguments concerning the safety of the ship, terms of employment and financial policy. Proudfoot resolved disputes with company officers, staff and fellow