Margaret Thatcher’s predecessor as leader of the Conservative Party, Ted Heath, was dismissive of her leadership credentials because she was a woman, a gathering of Tory-linked figures has heard.
“He thought: ‘It [leadership] will never be serious with her,’” said William Waldegrave, a Tory peer who worked for Heath and was a close confidante of his during his time as leader.
The shadow of Thatcher, still beloved by the Tory masses, has loomed large over every party leader since she quit in 1990. This week, almost 12 years after her death, a who’s who of senior figures gathered in the Westminster offices of right-wing think tank Policy Exchange, to reminisce wistfully about the “Iron Lady” and for the launch of its Thatcher Centenary Project; she was born in 1925.
Tuesday evening’s event also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the night she defeated Heath in the first ballot of a Tory leadership challenge, after which he resigned.
The evening of friendly reflections focused on her lesser-studied years as leader of the opposition from 1975 until she won the election of 1979. Among the crowd of grandees were Tory shadow cabinet members Alex Burhart and Mark Francois, peers Anne Jenkin, Andrew Roberts and Joanne Cash, and former first minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster, who clapped her hands high in the air when a panellist referred to certain Tories being “sound” on the North.
[ Mark Paul: Thatcher's nuanced legacy in WalesOpens in new window ]
The event also heard from Carol Thatcher, the former prime minister’s daughter who, like her mother, was an ebullient and entertaining speaker. “I inherited her strident voice,” she said.
Carol read from private letters she received while living in Australia, written by her mother when she was leader of the opposition. One note, penned by Thatcher not long after she became leader, went: “Dear Carol. I don’t yet know what reshuffling to do among the number two’s in the shadow cabinet. A few changes are needed. I shall have to strengthen the finance team. Brain power is not enough. We need personality and impact as well.”
She read from another private letter written during the Ilford North byelection of 1978, which fuelled the Tory march to power. “At Ilford, one journalist was heard talking about me,” Thatcher told her daughter. “’We have to stop that woman,’ he said. I thought it was quite the compliment.”
Carol revealed her mother was a “reluctant holidaymaker” who preferred to work. She wrote one letter about a private trip to stay with friends in Switzerland: “They’ve got loads of bankers coming for dinner, so we can have a proper in-depth debate on the economy.”
She also wrote to Carol soon after she won the 1979 election and became prime minister. Thatcher complained she was “fed up” with the “shabby” furniture in 10 Downing Street, so decided to make some changes: “I heard of three flats not in use in Admiralty House [a government building in Whitehall with ministerial accommodation]. So I went on a tour of inspection.”
Thatcher forced staff to swap the furniture in the Number 10 flat with those in Admiralty House. “So without spending any money [which she underlined] we have improved the place no end.”
Carol homed in on the phrase “improved the place no end”, and said this was what her mother had done for Britain. This was met with cheers and rapturous applause from the Policy Exchange crowd, before a discussion on what lessons current Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, could take from Thatcher.
Katie Lam, a Tory MP, said Thatcher had instinctively understood that to win an election, the party needed to capture the centre ground as well as the right wing and hold them at the same time.
“Even by 1979, not all her policies were there,” she said. “But her concepts were crystal clear.”
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