Margaret Thatcher, whose government had introduced the change to the allocation of commercial television franchises (but who had by then been replaced as Prime Minister by John Major), famously wrote to Bruce Gyngell, apologising for being partly responsible for the loss of TV-am's licence. It read, in part: "I am ... heartbroken. I am only too painfully aware that I was responsible for the legislation." The letter was private but Gyngell made it public, which drew criticism from friends of the former Prime Minister.