Conflict within the caucus culminated in a leadership challenge in October 1926 by Peter Loughlin, Lang's deputy leader. Lang survived this challenge on the casting vote of the Chairman. Lang responded to the challenge by calling a special meeting of the party conference in which, at his request, the conference took a supervisory role in the pre-selection of party candidates, took away from caucus the power to elect the parliamentary leader, and allowed the party leader to select the cabinet. In the press, these rule changes were referred to as "the red rules" or "the Lang dictatorship".