In the mid-70's amid economic and political chaos a successor of the Malta had to be designed, as the older ships reached the middle of their useful lives.
In 1980 a major review of past, present and future carriers was done.
Option A was Ermo Zumwalt Sea Control Ship, that is, a 20 000 ton ship carying Harriers - a glorified helicopter carrier without catapults.
The French had a similar concept, the PH-75, to replace their Arromanches. Italy and Spain were equally interested. the RN noted that such ship would ideally replace the Centaur commando carriers.
Option B was basically a Clemenceau / Hermes class 30 000 ton carrier.
Option C was an enlarged Clemenceau as studied by the French in 1959, the 45 000 tons Verdun
The varied Option Ds considered Malta-sized carriers, the RN dislike of the smaller options being obvious.
Option D1 was very much another Malta - 55 000 tons but with much updated technology.
Option D2 was the CVV, President Carter supposedly cheap Midway-sized carrier the USN hated so much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Carrier_(Medium)
Option D3 considered buying second-hand American carriers - either a Midway or a Forrestal, Essex being worn-out and too small, while Nimitz was way too expensive.
Economic turmoil and the advent of Margaret Thatcher meant the defense budget was slashed once again. First to leave where the Centaur commando carriers, in 1982. But that wasn't enough, and serious consideration was given to withdrawn one of the Malta.
The only positive thing was that both carriers aged well, as shown in May 1980 when the so called "Mad Atlantic dash" had HMS Malta steaming at full speed to Argentina coastline, with Phantoms thundering above Bueno Aires. It happened that Argentina military junta claimed the Faklands were them and got a little too agitated about it. The Phantom flyby somewhat cooled them.
The end of Cold War finally meant that one of the two Malta was retired, but the other ship remained in service, pending a successor. Before that however, HMS Malta sailed to the Persian Gulf, where its Bucaneer provided laser targeting for RAF Tornados that lacked that capability.