 In the event only one such hotel was opened – the Old Course at St Andrews – in 1968 before further expansion was stopped by the Conservative government elected in 1970.The remainder of the hotel estate was rationalised – the 34 hotels inherited by BTH being reduced to 29 by 1979.Following the victory of the Conservative Party at the 1979 general election, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the deteriorating economic situation, pressure was put on nationalised industries such as British Rail to consider asset disposal.