The Conservative Party led by Edward Heath won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science. Thatcher caused controversy when after only a few days in office she withdrew Labour's Circular 10/65 which attempted to force comprehensivisation, without going through a consultation progress. She was highly criticised for the speed in which she carried this out. Consequently, she drafted her own new policy (Circular 10/70) which ensured that local authorities were not forced to go comprehensive. Her new policy was not meant to stop the development of new comprehensives; she said: "We shall [...] expect plans to be based on educational considerations rather than on the comprehensive principle."