The spirit of Margaret Thatcher greets you as soon as you enter the Conservative Party Conference.

Three of the Iron Lady’s most famous outfits are on display for her birth centenary, which the Tories are celebrating lavishly with several parties. One glass case holds the Aquascutum fawn gabardine raincoat and silk scarf, famously worn by the former prime minister while riding in a tank in 1986, an unmissable symbol of her political strength.

It’s a throwback to better times. Now the so-called natural party of government is still reeling from its 2024 election defeat. At their annual conference in Manchester , the Tories are simultaneously struggling to distance themselves from a dismal record in office and to get the public to pay them any attention.

In her opening address on Sunday

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