 Ward began to look round for a winnable constituency to fight, and was considered for the Arundel and Shoreham constituency in a 1971 byelection.In 1972 he was shortlisted for Mid Oxon, losing out to Douglas Hurd, and for Kingston-upon-Thames, losing out to Norman Lamont; he was perceived as being on the left of the Conservative Party.He was also edged out at Christchurch and Lymington by Robert Adley, at Beaconsfield by Ronald Bell, and at Hove by Tim Sainsbury.