His fervent support for
Margaret Thatcher led to the end of his decades-long career as a BBC radio presenter and personality. On a live radio broadcast immediately prior to the 1983 election (a broadcast which had nothing to do with politics), he waited until his interviewer was just signing off and then quickly said that he just wanted to say that a vote for the Labour Party (then led by
Michael Foot) would be, in his opinion, a vote for Communism in Britain. There was, as he knew, no time for anyone to rebut this flagrantly biased "opinion", and there were many protests to the effect that it was, in fact, more of a shameless propaganda slur than a genuine view. The BBC, which always seeks to retain an even-handed approach in such matters, terminated his contract, and his days as a radio star were essentially over.
