The goal was to stabilize industrial relations by forcing concentration of bargaining power and responsibility in the formal union leadership, using the courts.

[1] The act followed the Report of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations,[2] led by Lord Donovan, which sought to reduce industrial conflict and introduce a claim for unfair dismissal.

Continued registration was dependent on the organisation having rules which specified how, when and by whom, authority was to be exercised, especially concerning the taking of industrial action.

It also established the National Industrial Relations Court, which was empowered to grant injunctions as necessary to prevent injurious strikes and settle a variety of labour disputes.

When the Pentonville Five were arrested for refusing to appear before the National Industrial Relations Court and imprisoned in the summer of 1972, their case received great publicity.

Adamson's statement made headlines, and was thought to have damaged the Conservative Party's election prospects.