 Boyd lost his seat at the 1965 Northern Ireland general election, and failed to regain it in 1969.He then stood unsuccessfully in Belfast West for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973 and the UK general election, February 1974, by now only able to take 4% of the vote.Following a final candidature for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in Belfast North, he resigned from the NILP and stood as an independent in the same seat for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982.