Louise Bagshawe: In praise of Margaret Thatcher

I want to thank Tim Montgomerie and Sam Coates for the opportunity they gave me to write a column for ConHome this year. Partly, this chance was afforded me because Tim knows I have been a Cameroon voice on the site for some time, under both my own name and pseudonyms, and because the editors wish to recognise Conservatives who represent the full range of party opinion. But in considering myself a Cameroon, I remain, as I have always been, a Thatcherite. When submitting myself for selection I was lucky enough to be able to include quotes from friends who had known me since university, and who could attest to my profound hero worship of the greatest woman statesman. I am in an odd position; in that I have a number of friends from political families, I have several acquaintances who know Lady Thatcher socially. I can not, and likely will never, make that boast. I do not know Lady Thatcher. But politically, I worship her. I never had any doubt as to how my column on Conservative Home should end. Posters on this site should not worry when the media spins to them that Cameroon, modern compassionate Conservative MPs and candidates, want to distance themselves from Lady Thatcher. This is nonsense; I do not wish to distance myself. I wish instead merely to touch the hem of her garment.

How can I express my gratitude to the greatest living Conservative and politician? I was born in 1971, born when my father was forced by punitive taxation to look at emigrating, and persuaded against it by my mother on the grounds that walks in the English countryside were always free. I was born into a world where strike-ridden Britain was perceived to be in permanent decline. I was born into a world where the idea of social justice was capitulation to the unions and pacifism abroad even in the face of aggression. I was born into a world where over-employment seemed a fact of life and the Foreign Office was telling the PM her job was to “manage Britain’s decline”. BM (Before Margaret) we were taking loans from the IMF, like the proverbial banana republic. We were a charity case, an afterthought. We were quite simply losers.

One of the most encouraging lessons in life is that of the utter triumph of the human will when expressed courageously. As a young girl in a world, in the 70s, where only men succeeded, Margaret Thatcher stood out like a beacon. She did not allow herself to be beaten down by prejudice, she simply forced the world to accept her talents. (NB: those commentators that say Margaret Thatcher was insensate to the sexism of selection committees need only read the letters of complaint she sent to cchq during her lengthy attempt to get selected. Indeed, to this day Baroness Thatcher assists women candidates in getting selected and I was privileged to meet her, at last, at a Women2Win event). I have also, and for different reasons, admired Arnold Schwarzenegger; like him, Thatcher is an exemplar of what a person can achieve if they simply refuse to accept limitations. Read the story of Margaret Thatcher’s victory in the leadership; men with a better chance simply did not have the stones to stand. She did, and the rest, literally, is history. Thatcher’s genius did not end with winning office, which (for example) Brown has appeared exclusively focussed on. She fought her party over the EU, the rebate, overemployment, interest rates, Westland, the lot. She was stamped through with Courage like a stick of Brighton rock. And not just political courage (her mandarins wanted to surrender over the Falklands) but physical courage too. After the Brighton Bombing, Margaret Thatcher, having prayed, persuaded M&S to open early. Delegates bought suits, and the conference opened on time – as usual.

Margaret Thatcher was a scientist. (Is a scientist). She was the first major politician seriously to warn of global warming. Despite the ludicrous caricature of her public image, she was a champion of social justice, the grocer’s daughter who swept away the barriers to home ownership for many of Britain’s poorest people. Elected on a popular mandate again and again, the voters never threw her out, much to the dismay of the liberal commentariat. She was the ultimate people’s politician.

I do not think it is an exaggeration to state that the country I grew up in was shaped and saved by Margaret Thatcher. She is my heroine, present in everything I attempt, whether in politics or popular fiction. I do not agree with everything she did; it would be a poor politician who aimed to photocopy someone else; but there’s no doubt at all that I hope, in Parliament, to be proved worthy of the noble, moral name of Thatcherite, that I will always look first to the weak and the helpless and hope to improve their situation, that I will always be proud of Britain, that I will fight any attempt to cede away our sovereignty (such as the EU Constitution), that I will do my best to preserve the Special Relationship, and that I will remember the basic Thatcherite tenet that politics, like life, is counter-intuitive; that things that seem compassionate (such as excessive worker protections) actually lead to high unemployment and are uncompassionate, and vice versa.

Blair made the Labour party electable by accepting Thatcherite reforms; indeed, her radical economics are now cross-party received wisdom. Earlier this year, the big Feartie from Fife (“frit!”) as the Lady would say, pretended for the cameras that he recanted a lifetime of spitting on her and admired her. She as a past PM was too polite to say no. But accept no imitations. I, and plenty of other PPCs, hoping to be elected under David Cameron, are true and passionate Thatcherites. This is my last column for the website, I have asked to be excused to concentrate on motherhood, fighting Corby, and my book career. But I didn’t want to leave without pinning my colours to the mast. Margaret Thatcher shaped me as a girl, a woman, and a would be politician. I am hugely grateful to her. And if I am so fortunate as to be elected for Corby & East Northants, I will try to be true to her tradition of service.

Comments

[Aunty Claire Ickle]

"Tim knows I have been a Cameroon voice on the site for some time, under both my own name and pseudonyms"

Is it not against the rules of CH to post under more than one name?

[James]

Louise writes an impassioned and stirring piece in praise of our greatest living Prime Minister, and someone calling themself 'Aunty Claire Ickle' writes a small-minded whinge about pseudonyms.

Christ almighty!

Well done Louise - a loud Hear Hear from fellow Thatcherites, and a welcome reminder that one can be a Thatcherite AND a Cameroon!!

(And Auntie Claire - if you spent any time at all on CH, you'd know that it is a forum for diverse and interesting debate in which I'm sure many people write under numerous names at times. I have certainly never seen a rule stating that one shouldn't, and indeed Tim and Sam have expressly ruled out any registration that would remove people's ability to post anonymously if they feel it necessary).

[London Tory]

The previous Tory MP for Corby was a well known Heathite/Heselteenee.

Good to see the local Party is back in safe hands.

[John Scott]

James - me thinks you are a victim of irony.

[graeme archer]

Brilliant stuff louise. I almost feel sorry for your labour opponent; almost, but somehow not quite! Good luck in corby, though as I think a famous lady I once said, luck will have nothing to do with it!

[MHDH]

A good post. However, I think you have probably just blown your chances of any promotion under Cameron. Mentioning Margaret Thatcher in a positive light will have Dave, Gideon and the rest in apoplexy. Make sure you don't get deselected either.

[Alan S]

Thatcher is back in fashion MHDH -- even within Camp Cameron. Fraser Nelson reported that DC left his own Christmas Party to attend Maggie's.

[Buckinghamshire Tory]

That was an uplifting article.
I find it very reasuring to know that so many of our PPCs and new MPs are Thatcherites.
A strong party leadership is of course neccessary, but we also need a principled and firm Parliamentary Party.

Good luck,I am sure Corby will be in Tory hands after the next General Election,

[Aunty Claire Ickle]

Is James American or did Santa not stop at his house this year?

I teach post-war British history to A-Level students and I am going to use this piece as a source - it's that good at putting the case for Mrs T that even I nearly fell for it and I subscribe to the Elvis Costello school of Thatcherite History.

[Editor]

For Buckinghamshire Tory and others interested in the beliefs of the next generation of Conservative MPs I recommend this post which reviews the responses made by candidates to a special ConservativeHome survey. I, personally, found it very encouraging.

[Moral minority]

You can't be a Thatcherite and a Cameroon. Thatcher did not need the Priority List. She pledged to cut taxes in her first manifesto. The Lady rolled back the frontiers of the State. Cameron is more like his Old Etonian predecessor Harold MacMillan who was a vocal opponent of Thatcher and her policies, especially privatisation.

Buckingham Tory should note the purging of truly Thatcherite PPCs, e.g. Andrew Griffith who slashed the majority in Corby over two elections only to be knifed in favour of Ms Bagshawe. Ms Bagshawe left the Conservative Party to join Blair's New Labour. True Thatcherites saw Blair as a phoney from the start and would never have defected. Ms Bagshawe is trying to have the proverbial cake and eat it. This article is disingenuous and must be exposed as such.

[London Tory]

I regard myself as Thatcherite first and a Conservative second. Thatcherism is regarded as mainstream Conservatism for my generation.

Cameron is the best chance we all have for seeing Thatcherism, or even a distilled version of it, re-enacted in Govt.

[englandism]

I met Heath, before he died, in our local (near Salisbury). I had an audience, courtesy of his bodyguard subsequent to buying said armed plod a pint and admiring his Glock.

We discussed Thatcher, eventually, and although Heath's mind had tended to wander it suddenly became very focussed and specific.

I decided not to tell him that Mrs T was God's own template for PM.

[Tony Makara]

Margaret Thatcher was an honest politician. She did what she said she would do. As a stateswoman she was very good and commanded a high level of respect around the world. The fact that she is respected even today by friend and foe alike reflects her stature. However the Thatcher years were not without mistakes. Allowing the manufacturing industry to die as a method of destroying trades union power has left us with permanent mass unemployment. Margaret Thatcher was also too enamoured with orthodox economics and failed to see that absolute free markets do lead to social entropy. Her faith in the abstractions of academic economists often undermined the good advice coming from political collegues who understood the real world better.

[Sally Roberts]

Well done, Louise! Excellent article and I too am proud to be both a Cameroon and a Thatcherite!
Englandism - what you say about Heath rings very true. My brother and sister in law knew him towards the end of his life (through non-political interests - music and sailing) and he remained embittered to the very end whenever the subject of Lady Thatcher was raised!

[ACT]

Yeah, such a convinced Thatcherite that she voted Labour in 1997, after being a Labour Party member. Really, pass the sick bag. In fact, make it two. The second one is for a good chuck in remembrance of a petted, A-List cronycon pushed forward by the very cynical people who've used her in this fashion. Or, as has been noted on this thread, Bagshawe in fact having the polar opposite of Margaret Roberts own trajectory after Oxford.

[London Tory]

# she voted Labour in 1997, after being a Labour Party member #

We always welcome a sinner who repents, but I would sooner eat broken glass than vote Labour. Not another Tony Lit ?

[Moral minority]

Sally Roberts, EUfanatic, calls herself a Thatcherite and Cameroon too. LOL! Cameroon definitely but not a Thatcherite in any way.

[Tony Makara]

Its really unfair to pick on Louise for changing party, after all Winston Churchill was once a Liberal. What matters is Louise Bagshaw's core values. Louise is someone who wants to see a socially conscious Conservatism, the right balance between the initiative and self-dependency of the individual and social cohesion for all. This is a balance that has been missing until recent years.

[Moral minority]

Have you applied for the Candidates List, Tony?

I am no fan of defectors, the young Winston Churchill included. They are generally opportunists who put their careers and egos before principle. That is especially true of those who switch between the main parties.

[Louise Bagshawe]

London Tory, Act has got this one wrong; as I've repeatedly posted in these columns and said in various interviews I was campaigning for the Conservatives in the 1997 election, in fact for my mother who stood as a Tory for the county council (and we took her seat off a LibDem). I've never voted Labour and was in their party very briefly, before knocking on doors for us in '97. I also campaigned for the Tories in a marginal in '01, and in 05 was a nursing mother but donated money in lieu of shoe leather.

It's usually not worth getting into "Torier than thou" fights but as this is the last column, I want to set it straight; I was working for the Tories in 1997 and subsequently.

[Sally Roberts]

Moral Minority - Margaret Thatcher was the reason I joined the Conservative Party in the run up to the 1979 Election! Why don't you stick to discussing areas of politics not related to Europe where you seem to be able to make adult comments without resorting to childish insult?

[Tony Makara]

Louise, sorry that you are leaving. I have enjoyed reading your articulate musings. I shall continue to follow your progess with great interest. Good luck.

[Buckinghamshire Tory]

Moral Minority: Sir, the way I see it, you can of course be a Cameroon AND a Thatcherite. We should never forget the heritage from Thatcher, but we can not expect to win the ideological battles of today with the same methods and arguments we used against Neil Kinnock, Tony Benn, Michael Foot and their like.

The Party must stay true to the basic tenets of Thatcherism, but that does not mean we have to embrace everything ever uttered byThe Lady, or that the Conservative Party of today must be identical with the party of Norman Tebbit. We had to modernise the Party to become electable again.

About Ms Bagshawe’s former association with New Labour. We all make mistakes. Many of the great leaders of centre-right parties in Europe have had brief flirts with the left. Many Conservatives left the Party in the final years of the Major Premiereship, and considering the state of our Party, I can understand them.
That she campaigned for the Tory Party in 1997 is proof enough for me. I did so myself, and it was not easy. I can only imagine how it was outside of the Homecounties.

[Dick Wishart]

So very true Buckinghamshire tory, I joined the Party in the mid sixties and have worked for it ever since through all the good and bad leaders we have had, you're either a tory or you're not and this means being true to the cause through the bad times as well as the good.
Margaret Thather was THE leader of her time just as David Cameron is THE leader of his time, in future years someone else will be in the same position for the party, and thats the way it will go on.
Its no good griping on about the Thatcher years, they are long gone (we are in the 21st Century you know) times and people change and the Party has to continually adjust/change to keep up with modern thinking, just as we have to in our private life, I would get very short shift from my grandchildren if i kept on about how wonderful the fifties were.
As for moaning about someone who flirted with Labour for a short period, I trust you dont have that same attitude with the floating voters when out canvassing.
Move on for god's sake, the rest of the world has, or haven't you noticed.