The main purpose of the Steering Committee was to draft the Party's general election manifesto, and it was usually reconstituted 1-2 years before an impending election and was chaired by the Party Leader: ‘Both before the 1955 and 1959 elections, and indeed in a less orderly way for the 1950 and 1951 elections, we have had the same system of first generating thoughts about future policy, then bringing them together in various drafts for the election manifesto, and finally supervising them by a senior committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. This seems a very good recipe and, except in detail, I should like to suggest that we follow it again. It involves the setting up of two committees or groups: 1) The Steering Committee. This on the last two occasions was under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister assisted by four or five senior Ministers with Michael Fraser as Secretary….2) The Policy Study Group. I have always been Chairman of this….I would propose to set up the Policy Study Group almost at once…’ [Source: Letter from Iain Macleod to Harold Macmillan, 26/10/1961, Shelfmark: CCO 20/31/1]