During November 1978, the UK music press reported that after returning to England at Christmas, Harley would form a new band, record a new album in February and begin touring again later in the year.

[1] Speaking to the Daily Star in December 1978, Harley described the recording of his debut solo album Hobo with a Grin (1978) as "an experience", but added, "This time I'll do things very differently.

"[3] In an interview with The Evening News in October 1979, Harley spoke of his return from America and the album's creation, "I spent almost a full year out there and did nothing except swim and sunbathe and head for some party or other at night.

It contained two bonus tracks, the 1982 non-album single "I Can't Even Touch You", and a live version of the 1974 Cockney Rebel song "Psychomodo".

On 31 October 2011, The Candidate was digitally remastered and released on CD by BGO Records as a double album set with Hobo with a Grin.

[12] However, the plans for a British tour were ultimately scrapped and instead Harley performed a one-off sold-out show at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in October, with a new line-up of Cockney Rebel as his backing band.

The honesty and unpretentious ingenuity of The Candidate should re-establish [him] as an artist working independently of current trends with a style and craftsmanship that easily transcends this or any other year's models.

"[16] Red Starr of Smash Hits commented, "Harley's never fully developed talents have scraped rock bottom in recent years.

[13] Gary Paul of Bedfordshire on Sunday wrote, "Steve attacks the lyrics but generally leaves the impression that he would be better suited to songs which are more MOR as the backing often swamps his words.

"[17] Jon Hibbs of the Cambridge Evening News believed Harley displayed a "wet and placcid performance" on the album and felt he was "suffering from a bad case of lost identity".

He praised "Freedom's Prisoner" for "effectively recreat[ing] the off-beat and plodding bass" of "Mr. Soft", but was less enthusiastic about the remaining material, stating, "The cockney rebel's ire is dissipated into trite hymns to 'young hearts' and 'love on the rocks' together with pedestrian reworkings of other people's ideas.

"[19] Dave Thompson of AllMusic retrospectively wrote, "When 'Freedom's Prisoner' hit the airwaves in fall 1979, it would have taken a lot to convince the longtime fan that the man hadn't resparked all his old glories again.

It was also a total fluke, as the accompanying album flopped onto the streets and proved itself to be little more than a clutch of substandard songs, glued together by alluring production alone.

'Audience with the Man' and 'From Here to Eternity' do bear repeated listens, but too much of The Candidate clung so lifelessly to the stylus that it was hard to believe our hopes had ever soared so high.

"[20] Of the 2000 re-issue of the album, Q commented, "Despite Harley returning to Blighty, the splendid The Candidate sold so poorly that EMI dumped what four years previously had been their major act.

The following year's offering draws from just as big a notice board, but the musical thumbtacks are rarely strong enough to hold the ideas in place.

'Audience with the Man' and 'From Here to Eternity' suggest a love for early Springsteen, but with little of Bruce's energy or articulacy, 'How Good It Feels' is passable Brit country, while 'Freedom's Prisoners' sounds like synth-rock played by jet-lagged Cossacks.