 However, in November 1980 the government announced that his term would be cut short in order to appoint another political appointee, Vic Garland.This decision proved controversial in both Australia and the UK.It was reported that the British foreign secretary Lord Carrington told a public function that Plimsoll had been "treated very shabbily", and that both Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had expressed their surprise at the shortness of his term.