Page "Michael Foot" Paragraph 22

When he became leader, Foot was already 67 and frail.

The Tory government was dividing the country and proving highly controversial as its monetarist economic policies to reduce inflation were contributing to a significant rise in unemployment which had helped plunge Britain's economy into recession earlier in 1980.

As a result, Labour had moved ahead of the Tories in the opinion polls, and in the aftermath of Foot's election as leader opinion polls showed a double-digit lead for Labour, boosting his hopes of becoming prime minister by the time of the next general election, which had to be held by May 1984.