How did Margaret Thatcher take over the Conservative Party?

February 2025 marks fifty years since the election of Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative Party. To mark this anniversary, Lee and Richard discuss the blockbuster leadership contest that elevated her to the top of the Tories, the first woman to lead a British political party. It’s a story that is full of drama: from the stubbornness of Ted Heath to the rebelliousness of Conservative MPs, right up to the moment that Thatcher wins and a new age in British politics begins. In this episode, the following books are mentioned:‘Kingmaker’ by Graham Brady. Available at: https://amzn.to/48uo1Jl‘Harold Wilson: The Winner’ by Nick Thomas-Symonds. Available at: https://amzn.to/3KgtauJ***Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.