Tory leadership candidates should be banned from evoking Thatcher

Surely the Conservative Party has something better to offer than a rerun of 1979, asks Salma Shah

Wednesday 20 July 2022 19:23 BST
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<p>Liz Truss appeared to channel Margaret Thatcher’s style</p>

Liz Truss appeared to channel Margaret Thatcher’s style

New rule: anyone running in a Conservative leadership race should be banned from evoking the memory of Margaret Thatcher. No pussy-bow blouses, no mention of the Falklands or talk of free market economics and balancing the books. This type of behaviour must carry tough disincentives, like literal handbaggings for anyone who even tries to engage in these terrible impersonations.

We’ve had four Conservative prime ministers since her tenure at No 10 was brutally ended and, without wanting to sound insensitive, she died nearly a decade ago, in which time we’ve decapitated the party leader a further three times. We have also exited the EU, come through a global pandemic and are facing very high levels of inflation. Surely the Conservative Party has something better to offer than a rerun of 1979?

It feels like watching Some Mothers Do Have ’Em or the Good Life on repeat on BBC Two. We’ve already seen the best bits and we know what happens, so it matters little if it’s on TikTok or Twitter because we know how it ends.

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