Boardman's skills had been rapidly recognised by the incoming Conservative government of Edward Heath in 1970. He quickly earned a reputation for speaking publicly only about subjects that he knew well, particularly in the realms of industry and commerce. In April 1972, he was made Minister for Industry at the Department of Trade and Industry, where he was seen by many as a powerful advocate of progress in industry. Heath brought Boardman in to help take forward the industrial expansion programme, in a reshuffle which followed the unveiling of the Industry Bill. This was Heath's notorious 'U-turn' on industrial policy, in which a free market approach was abandoned in favour of a return to intervention, subsidy for 'lame ducks' and price controls.