Beeching cuts and the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester has increased significantly, and double track has now been reinstated on the Golden Valley Line. The Conservatives increased their Commons majority in the general election of 8 October 1959, their first with Harold Macmillan as prime minister, who famously said that most people "had never had it so good". Ernest Marples, previously the Postmaster General, was made Transport Minister two weeks later in a cabinet reshuffle; Marples was described by some as "cocky", "flash", "slick" and as a "construction tycoon", and Macmillan noted that the Northern working-class boy who had won a
Couldn't Have Said It Better and was licensed to Mercury Records for its UK release and Sanctuary Records for US release, while global distribution was handled by parent company Universal Music Group. Most of this was caused by lack of promotion on behalf of Sanctuary, the company that released the album in the US, and few actual singles being distributed, especially in the UK—his biggest market. The single "Couldn't Have Said It Better" featuring Patti Russo reached the AC Top 40 in the US, while the videos also had low budgets, in stark contrast to his 1990s videos. However, the album was a minor success