Published on: 02/09/2022 – 09:34 Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak: one of these two political personalities will enter 10 Downing Street on September 5 in an inflammable social context. The two contenders for the post of Prime Minister want to be firm on the question of strikes, like in his time a certain Margaret Thatcher from whom they have largely drawn inspiration in recent months. Explanations. The social summer has been hot in the United Kingdom, marked by multiple strikes in many sectors: rail, dockers, postal services, garbage collectors… And the temperature could even rise in the fall, in the coming weeks : the main British unions want more coordinated movements to maximize the impact of the strikes and “win”, in the long term, the fight for wage increases linked to inflation. we will know on September 5 which of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will succeed Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street. The only certainty: the two Conservative contenders for the post of Prime Minister have shown in recent weeks their closeness to Margaret Thatcher and their desire to quell the social movement underway across the Channel. “Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have moved to the right during the campaign (this summer, editor’s note) to please conservative adherents – who have good political memories of Margaret Thatcher”, explains Sarah Pickard, lecturer in contemporary British civilization at the Sorbonne Nouvelle.>> To read also: in the United Kingdom, the specter of a general strike to say no to inflationThese 160,000 members of the Conservative Party, who vote from the beginning of August until September 2 to decide who will be the next British Prime Minister, present a singular profile, according to the specialist from the UK: “They are more of a white male over 50, come from the middle class and live in the south of England. They don’t have the pr of the British voter as a whole: they are more to the right than Tory MPs and the general population.” And Margaret Thatcher represents what those voters love: traditions, national pride in being British , the value of work as well as neoliberalism. Political references more in form than in substance ThatcherienLiz Truss and Rishi Sunak have a political interest in walking in the footsteps of the “Iron Lady” – nickname given to Margaret Thatcher in because of his resistance to several social movements in the 80s (in particular that of the British miners in 1984-1985). The two candidates for the succession of Boris Johnson assume, each in their own way, a part of the Thatcherist heritage. Liz Truss has taken care of appearances on several occasions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was notably photographed in military uniform in a tank during a trip to Estonia in November 2021. Thirty-five years earlier, in 1986, Margaret Thatcher had been photographed in the same circumstances during a visit to British troops stationed in West Germany. One former Cabinet minister told me Liz Truss’ leadership pitch to the Tory party “is to say freedom as much as possible and look like Margaret Thatcher as much as possible” 👀 pic.twitter.com/8QRjuMF45M— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) November 30, 2021 Most recently, in mid-July, Liz Truss appears to have borrowed “Iron Lady” dress codes – black jacket and white blouse with a bow tie – during the Party’s first presidential candidate debate conservative. Margaret Thatcher wore a very similar outfit on an election show in 1979 – the year she became Britain’s head of government. “Liz Truss borrows more from Thatcherite form than substance,” explains Raphaële Espiet-Kilty, lecturer in the English studies department at Clermont-Auvergne University, while adding that she “wants to reduce taxes ( like Margaret Thatcher in the early 1980s, editor’s note), which is a great hobbyhorse of the conservatives”. Sarah Pickard notes, for her part, a fundamental difference between the current candidate and the “Iron Lady”: ” Margaret Thatcher had an ideology, a politics of convictions. It was not at all the opportunism that you see with Liz Truss, who is more of a political chameleon.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs, before becoming a fervent defender of Brexit, was indeed a time opposed to the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU – with which Margaret Thatcher had tumultuous relations. Rishi Sunak also assumes, part of the Thatcherite heritage, as a supporter of the budgetary discipline advocated by Margaret Thatcher. The Politico media recalled, at the beginning of August, the unequivocal remarks made by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer praising the political “Iron Lady” at the start of his term as Prime Minister: “If you remember his first budgets – and, in fact, what we had to do as a country in this phase – even if it was difficult, she understood that it was first necessary to control inflation and control public spending and borrowing (…). It is exactly the same path that I want to follow. “Reconnect with the image of a party that has a clear direction”The two candidates in the race for 10 Downing Stree t assume a certain proximity to the “Iron Lady”, marking a break with what the Conservative Party has initiated since the beginning of the 21st century. “With Theresa May and David Cameron, in particular, there was a desire to distance themselves from Thatcherite conservatism, which was considered toxic. There was even talk of a need to ‘detoxify’ the Conservative Party to make it more compassionate , nicer”, explains Raphaële Espiet-Kilty. This return to the past underlines the ideological and political crisis which agitates the Conservative Party after 12 years in power and the recent controversial mandate of Boris Johnson. In this November 20, 1990 file photo, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attends the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. A few days later, she resigned after 11 years as chief executive. © Lionel Cironneau, AP As Prime Minister (from 2019 until September 5), “BoJo” divided his party – notably with the series of “Partygate” scandals – to the point of being forced to resign, at the beginning July, while the departures were linked within his own government. The departure of Boris Johnson revealed the fragmentation of the Conservative Party with no less than eight candidates initially in the running to succeed him. That Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak then follow in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher is not trivial in this context, according to Raphaële Espiet-Kilty: “She still governed for eleven years, was elected three times in a row and embodies the image of a conquering party that succeeded and was united. There is so much dissension at the moment within the Conservative Party that running (in the footsteps of) Margaret Thatcher can be a way of reconnecting with the image of a party that has a clear direction. the next tenant of 10 Downing Street will above all have to manage a major social movement across the Channel. Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak promise more firmness against the current strikes if they are appointed Prime Minister… like a certain “Iron Lady”.