People tend to see David Cameron through the prism of their hopes and fears. Labour supporters want to believe that he is a lightweight who won’t stand up to the intense scrutiny of an election campaign. Pragmatic Tories think that here, at last, is a leader who can reach out and lead them back to power. And Robin Harris, self-appointed keeper of the Thatcher flame, fears a betrayal of that legacy (see Prospect, March).
The intoxicating narrative of the Thatcher premiership as a struggle between good and evil is one that has many adherents on the left as well as the right. I can understand why it must be tempting for people like Harris, who played an active role in politics at that time, to see it as an heroic era.
The truth is more complex. Of course Margaret Thatcher was a remarkable and strong-willed figure but she was also a pragmatist, just as ready to upset her right wing as Tony Blair has been to upset his left wing.
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