James Heale has narrated this article for you to listen to.
It is 50 years since Margaret Thatcher was elected Tory leader and at this week’s shadow cabinet meeting, Lord Forsyth was invited as guest speaker to mark the occasion. He noted the similarities between 1975 and 2025. Back then the party was broke, reeling from defeat and facing the fallout from a reorganisation of local government. But, despite threadbare resources, Thatcher managed to rebuild to win power four years later. ‘You have the potential to do the same,’ Forsyth told Kemi Badenoch.
Yet there is a crucial difference between then and now: a rival on the right. Nigel Farage’s Reform party is vying with Badenoch to inherit Thatcher’s mantle. Each leader is competing for the same voters, members and donors. Across the country, Tory associations are split as old activists peel off to form new Reform branches. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Tory MP, suggests it is a familial split. In some cases, this is quite literal, with married couples serving as local officers for rival parties.
Reform supporters argue that if a young Thatcher were around today, she would be one of their own. Her father’s family were old-fashioned Liberals; she knew the Tories were her best bet for advancement. With Reform making inroads with Gen Z, might the party have appealed to her? ‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,’ says Farage. ‘It was made very clear to me that she voted Ukip in 1999. She believed in meritocracy, she put Jewish people in her cabinet, working class people like Norman Tebbit.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in