Turn back the clock 46 years. The Iron Lady takes to the stage, promising to pull Britain out of chaos.
Blackpool, 1979.
The Conservative Party Conference.
Turn back the clock 46 years. The Iron Lady takes to the stage, promising to pull Britain out of chaos. After a winter of discontent within the nation, Thatcher introduced unprecedented austerity measures and fiscal policy, shooting her to popularity and boosting her landslide victory against Callaghan’s Labour opposition. After this, Thatcherism became an extreme strand of conservatism, which continues to shape the values of the party to this day.
Manchester, 2025.
100 years since the birth of the Iron Lady, her shadow still haunts the conference floor.
In today’s political climate, extreme politics are becoming more and more prevalent in day to day conversation. They were faced with having to strike a balance between being bold and innovative in their policy, whilst also regaining the trust of the electorate. With Farage’s Reform party racing ahead on the right, it was also imperative that with this they provided both relevance and redemption. In order to do this, they turned to one of the most influential figures of all time within conservative politics: Thatcher. Her presence loomed over the conference, with her name and quotes being referenced in various speeches by members of the party. But how exactly has her extreme style of governing influenced today’s party?
Badenoch attacks Labour’s ‘old, failed politics’ which she states the Conservative Party will stop at no
end to move us away from, starting with an immediate focus on strengthening our borders. In recent months, the pressing issue of immigration has dominated Westminster debates, splitting MPs and voters alike on how to handle the migration of people in and out of Britain. Both the main political parties have discussed in depth the cracking down on the number of people entering the country illegally on ‘small boats’, and so far, neither has been successful. During their last term in office, the Conservative Party made the controversial promise to ‘stop the boats’, and as this began to prove unsuccessful, consequently undermined public trust in the party, and now in an attempt to regain this trust, Badenoch introduces the idea of ‘stronger economy, stronger borders’, outlining the Conservative’s plan to introduce harsher right wing policy in their next term.
This idea of strong borders continued to appear during the conference, with Home Secretary Chris Philp furthering the notion during his speech on controlling immigration. He stated ‘if we can’t control our borders, then we are no country at all’, before going on to address that illegal entry of small boats under Starmer’s government has been higher than ever before, and describing the government as ‘weak’ and a ‘let down’. Throughout the conference, crime committed by illegal immigrants continued to crop up, a theme that critics suggest is being used as political ammunition. The party put forward a plan to deport 750,000 immigrants from the UK within the next 5 years, doubling the budget for the immigration enforcement unit and renaming it to the ‘removals office’ branch of the home sec. Immigrants, where possible due to safety reasons, would be returned to their home country, and in other cases a safe third country. (Are we seeing a return of the Rwanda scheme?)
The ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) was another key talking point during the conference, particularly the new Conservatives resolution to withdraw the country from the agreement. Badenoch announced that a new model of human rights within the UK would enable them to ensure that British citizens are put first when it comes to housing, and that borders would be strong. She stated ‘I have not come to this decision lightly but it is clear that it is necessary to protect our borders, our veterans and our citizens’. Thatcher’s voice is strong here, her attitudes towards a strong nation projecting through Badenoch’s words.
In response to this, a spokesperson for Reform commented that ‘nobody trusts a single word the Conservatives are saying’- presenting one of the views from within the electorate since the Conservative party’s last term in office. The likelihood of the party regaining this trust still remains unknown. On the other side of the political spectrum, Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey stated that ‘Badenoch has chosen to back Nigel Farage and Vladimir Putin’, a controversial take on some of the more right wing policy currently being introduced by the Conservative Party, begging the question- will the Liberal Democrats follow suit in the run up to the next election, and replace any of their current policies or old manifesto promises with more extreme ideas?
Perhaps in order to begin the process of regaining the trust of the public, the party took the time for some self reflection, commenting on how under Sunak, both the small boats policy and the Rwanda scheme were highly unsuccessful. Furthermore, the contentious issue of stamp duty and its potential abolition were discussed at the conference. Once again we saw the legacy of Thatcher in action within the party, through Badenoch’s quote ‘if every Labour government is prepared to reverse every Tory measure, while Conservative governments accept nearly all socialist measures, the end result is only too plain.’ She used this reference in order to draw on the importance of her new right wing policy such as the abolishment of the human rights act, and of stamp duty on housing, which she states will make homeownership more accessible to people of all ages.
So where is the party left now? 46 years after her defining conference, the Conservative Party still grapples with Thatcher’s defining ghost. Her presence loomed over the conference, from the discussion of policy which is based on her ideology, to the cardboard cutouts of her displayed all around. Echoes of her defiance linger, but clearly so do the divisions she left behind. And now it is up to Badenoch’s party, whether they can channel her legacy into strong party policy, or repeat its fractures, as to whether or not we will see a Conservative government in the next election.