 His first term of office lasted only ten months but during that time Ishbel did everything possible to save her father money, cutting back on the cost of heating, food, transport and servants which at the time were expected to be paid out of a Prime Minister's own pocket.Ishbel imagined that her role would be purely temporary and that when her father's minority government fell she would return to the simple life she had known.In fact she never left her father's side, acting as his official hostess through his three terms of office and his years in opposition until he died in 1937.