On 6 August it was announced in the House of Commons that the Attorney General for England and Wales Sir Patrick Hastings had advised the prosecution of Campbell under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797; however, under pressure from a number of Labour backbenchers, the government forced the charges to be withdrawn on 13 August.
Her grandfather, Sir Henry Legge-Bourke (1914–1973), was member of parliament for the Isle of Ely from 1945 until 1973 and was chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers.
Of the former Dowding ministry, 15 of the 17 ministers retained office—Peter Dowding and Julian Grill were not reappointed, and backbenchers Pam Buchanan (Ashburton) and Dr Geoff Gallop (Victoria Park) took their place.
Initially 70 to 80 strong, the October Club attracted not just young and inexperienced backbenchers but older Tories such as Ralph Freeman, Sir John Pakington, Sir Justinian Isham, Peter Shakerley, and Sir Thomas Hanmer.
In addition, various Fianna Fáil backbenchers were also known to be unhappy with the programme; TD for Westmeath, Donnie Cassidy, threatened to call Hobbs and RTÉ management before a committee to explain their behaviour.
The opposition to the Conservative government in the Lords was meagre, but sometimes successfully rallied support from government backbenchers: in 1955, for instance, Jowitt led a successful rebellion in the Lords over a government Bill to criminalise the medical use of marijuana.