O’Donnell felt the impetus for change came to a halt when Richardson retired. In 1989 he told an interviewer that, though the GMC had changed for the better, many of the changes were cosmetic. It remained a stuffy body, reactive rather than proactive. He also thought the council was far too large. The universities and medical schools refused to amalgamate their membership and, to protect the Merrison principle of an elected majority, the council had to add another elected member to match each new academic appointment. By 1989 the number of members had reached 102.