The seventies and eighties saw the adult education movement renew and reexamine its commitment to opening up learning opportunities to "disadvantaged" groups. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) was now part of the mainstream of public policy making in lifelong learning and had a significant role in delivering the government's new agenda. This brought significant growth to the Institute--in terms of both size and income--but brought with it new challenges, not least in maintaining its key role as an independent advocate and critical friend to government. In the third article in a series marking 90 years of NIACE support for adult learning, the author looks at the Institute's role in taking these ideas into the mainstream and the challenges it faced in defending them.