 Although the Conservative vote in Bradford North increased by more than 3,000, Lawler was defeated in the 1987 election by Pat Wall, who was standing again, by 1,633 votes.He noted that being an MP "doesn't give you many additional recognisable skills other than being a good communicator", but since he had previously worked in public relations before his election, he returned to the same field.Lawler subsequently submitted his name for selection in several constituencies for the 1992 general election (among them Finchley, following Margaret Thatcher's announcement of her retirement) but after several narrow defeats was not selected anywhere.