 In January 1970 he initiated a debate on housebuilding, insisting that half a million houses needed to be built every year in order to solve the housing problem; he called on the Labour government to apologise for failing to meet that target.At the general election in June 1970, Ward tried to attract attention by campaigning on a horse and cart.However, he could not prevent the Labour candidate David Stoddart retaking the seat with a majority of 5,576.