On the face of it the election of a Labour government in 1974 augured well for the British film industry (Labour had formed a minority government in March 1974: they won a small majority following another general election in October). Returning Prime Minister Harold Wilson had been the ‘father’ of the National Film Finance Corporation and was sympathetic to the problems of the film industry. Early in his second administration, Wilson decided ‘that it may be time to take a new look at the financing of the film industry’. However, Wilson's narrow parliamentary majority and the worsening economic outlook – brought about by a combination of severe inflationary pressure and increasing unemployment – limited his room for manoeuvre. There is also evidence that his government was not united behind him: the official records reveal a state of what almost amounted to undeclared warfare between Downing Street and the Treasury when it came to the provision of further support for film production. Wilson's skill as a political manager would be tested to its utmost as he attempted to use his influence to help the ailing production industry. On 26 November 1974 Prime Minister's Questions included a planted question from Gwyneth Dunwoody ‘whether he is satisfied with interdepartmental co-ordination in the provision of finance for film-making for cinema and television’: this was clearly meant as a warning shot across the Treasury's bows that Wilson intended to do something about the film industry.

For perhaps the first time in its history the British film industry felt that it had the Prime Minister's ear. In May 1975 Wilson hosted a working dinner at 10 Downing Street: among those present were Sir Richard Attenborough (‘A likeable and helpful character, very successful personally and without any particular axe to grind’), Stanley Baker (‘Believed to be known personally to the Prime Minister’), John Brabourne (‘Very active and a diplomatic asset’), Nat Cohen (‘Very influential in the film industry’), Michael Deeley, Bernard Delfont, Carl Foreman, Harry Saltzman, Michael Relph and Sir John Woolf, with representatives of the NFFC (chairman Robert Clark and managing director John Terry) and the unions (Alan Sapper of the Federation of Film Unions and Peter Plowicz of British Equity).