 Sandelson later said that he had decided to join the party months before, and had voted for Michael Foot in the Labour leadership election in order to ensure Labour had an unelectable leader.In 1983 he lost his seat, polling 29% of the vote - although he almost pushed Labour into third place which allowed the Conservative candidate Terry Dicks to win.When the 1987 general election came round he did not stand and endorsed a number of Conservative candidates as a means of defeating Labour though the list included Chris Patten whose seat was a prime SDP-Liberal Alliance target which Labour had no chance of winning.