Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy Lives On

Immersed as I was in a consideration of the threads that run through the stories of some of our most prominent female politicians – namely hailing from different ethnic backgrounds together with an immense admiration for Margaret Thatcher – it was intriguing to hear the news of another prominent politician changing horse and being relaunched onto the political scene.

Unfortunately for this theme, this was not another ‘she’ but rather ‘The Boy from Baghdad’ i.e., Nadhim Zahawi. His parents came to this country from Iraq when he was age nine and, like other politicians of varied ethnic backgrounds, he has integrated and imbedded himself in British life. Zahawi has had a dizzying number of posts in government – matched only by the number of business and entrepreneurial initiatives (including the creation of YouGov) in which he’s been involved. He is a Muslim, though in customary flexible fashion he has downplayed this and expressed support for other religions.

In line with the notable female politicians referenced below, Zahawi has regularly declared his admiration and respect for Margaret Thatcher and claimed she had a significant influence on his political and entrepreneurial philosophy.

Unfortunately for Zahawi one of his many political roles, i.e., responsibility for the COVID-19 vaccine programme, sticks irrevocably in the craw of many people. Opponents of lockdown measures and the attempt to enforce vaccination remember him for that rather than his political and business achievements. At his launch alongside Nigel Farage he was asked by a journalist about joining a party which had platformed a strong vaccine opponent (Dr Aseem Malhotra). He responded with an unnecessarily abrupt “that’s a really stupid question”, i.e., he didn’t care to answer it and it didn’t suit his new political persona. Nor did it do much for the ‘optics’ of an image makeover.

Politicians who slip and slide and present self-serving political realignments as if they were some kind of damascene conversion really do themselves no favours. Zahawi appears to be rather impressed with himself, but the public – including many in his new party – less so. Jumping from one ship to another and performing political and ideological somersaults in order to sustain a superior position just don’t wash.

Last week Reform had another unveiling – that of Laila Cunningham as Reform candidate for the 2028 election for Mayor of London. Anybody who has seen Laila interviewed will be aware that she is a feisty articulate female who can hold her own with ease against opposing views. She is intellectually nimble and doesn’t, unlike so many politicians, regurgitate a script which has been dictated by her handlers. She appears to believe in what she’s saying – something we don’t see too much of from squirming party mouthpieces who are wheeled out to defend the indefensible.

Part of Laila’s ability to fire off the cuff responses is no doubt partly due to her past profession of criminal prosecutor (not that a legal background has done much for the PM’s oratory powers).

The daughter of Egyptian parents who moved to the UK in the 60s, Cunningham was influenced by her mother’s strong political awareness and admiration of Margaret Thatcher. She is Muslim, but says all religions are open to interpretation. In her case, that takes the form of disapproval of sharia courts in the UK and opposition to face coverings together with other aspects of fundamentalism.

Unlike Zahawi, who in a past life expressed all-out support for uncontrolled immigration, she has consistently aligned with her party’s views regarding the damage being done by uncontrolled illegal immigration and excessive legal immigration. In so doing she expresses stronger views than her opponent Sadiq Kahn (also Muslim, of course) who is proud to preside over an extremely ethnically diverse city.

The fact that Laila is the mother of seven (including two stepchildren) – her ex husband was French and she is now married to an American – adds to the image of a driven, fiercely energetic female with an international perspective who is determined to make her mark in politics.

She did, it is true, previously seek election as a Conservative – but never mind, she doubtless had the same views then as she has now. Unlike Zahawi, she has received considerable criticism and scepticism on account of her faith. Her views regarding Zahawi are not yet known; tangled webs and all that.

Zahawi’s connections with current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also seem to be a little tangled (his wish for a peerage was denied), but anyway, enter another feisty female of foreign parentage: although born in London, Kemi grew up in Nigeria until the age of 16 when she returned to the UK due to the deteriorating political situation in Nigeria. Having fired her way through various qualifications and professional and political posts Kemi also says that her hero was Margaret Thatcher. Like Laila’s mother she is able to compare life in the UK with that in other countries pre- and post colonialism, saying: “I don’t care about colonialism because [I] know what we were doing before colonialism got there.” She’s not afraid to express robust opinions on immigration:

It is quite clear that there are many people who have recently come to this country who have brought views from where they used to be that have no place here.

Unlike Cunningham, Kemi says she is agnostic and “Yoruda not Nigerian”, which would imply Christian. Married to a Brit, Kemi ’only’ has three children but displays the commensurate drive, determination and self-belief to climb the slippery political pole.

The current Shadow Foreign Secretary and ex-Home Secretary is Priti Patel – another female politician of foreign extraction: her Hindu parents arrived from Uganda in the 1960s . The now familiar theme is repeated i.e., Mrs Thatcher inspired her to enter politics. Her connections with Zahawi are unequivocal; they have known each other for over 25 years and have a strong political and professional relationship. She is in no doubt what she thinks about immigration – of the illegal sort, at any rate – and as Home Secretary was instrumental in instigating the Rwanda deal (which was instantly dismantled by Starmer) as well as return deals, though her record on legal migration owing to her role in the Boriswave has come under scrutiny recently.

Sitting on the opposite bench to Kemi and Priti is the recently appointed Foreign Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Born of Pakistani parents, Mahmood is – like Cunningham and Zahawi – a Muslim. As with all three women she has had a highly impressive academic and professional career path: she is a qualified barrister who took a law degree at Oxford (Rishi Sunak was in the year below). She has described herself as a small-c social conservative, naming Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto as her political idols. She generally presents as more credible than most of her front bench female colleagues and, when it was revealed that in 2025 a total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK via small boat crossings, Mahmood characterised the situation as “shameful” and argued that illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’. It very much remains to be seen how effective the measures she is taking to control immigration will be.

In embarking on political careers, all four women have lined themselves up for hard, energy sapping work and, above all, relentless criticism and opposition from within their chosen parties as well as political opponents and the public.

Could it not be that, having been raised by parents with experience of other cultures and political regimes, they have been imbued with heightened objectivity about our country? That and a drive to succeed together with a core of self-belief.

Never Here Keir takes every possible opportunity to head off abroad, but does gladhanding his foreign counterparts enhance his historical and cultural understanding or objectivity regarding the contributions made by the UK to other countries and their pursuit of democracy? I very much doubt it.

Lady Thatcher might well be deeply satisfied to contemplate the fact that so many successful politicians – of whatever stripe and whatever background – reference her influence and political philosophy as a guiding light.