However, on 2 February 1965, the incoming Labour government, led by Harold Wilson, cancelled the P.1154 on the grounds of cost, along with several other aircraft such as the BAC TSR-2 strike aircraft and Hawker Siddeley HS.681 VSTOL transport.
In the late 1970s, the Soviet Navy started adopted a plan to build large aircraft carriers capable of operating conventional aircraft rather than the VSTOL Yakovlev Yak-38s operated by the existing Kiev class aircraft carriers.