Badenoch speaks to Thatcher voters, MP says

Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins appeared on The Hot Seat on BBC Radio Lincolnshire

Margaret Thatcher would have "commended" Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for "taking her time and thinking carefully" about the challenges facing the country, an MP has said.

"She would also say to Kemi - show the backbone that you've got," Victoria Atkins, Conservative MP for Louth and Horncastle, said.

Thatcher, who was born in Lincolnshire, was the UK's first female prime minister and held the post from 1979 until her resignation in 1990.

"I think Kemi in the conference we've just had was speaking to the people who voted for Mrs Thatcher," Atkins added.

In an appearance on The Hot Seat, on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Atkins said: "I think she [Thatcher] would see a lot of similarities between today and the 1970s", including increased strikes, higher taxes and the cost of living crisis.

"Kemi is speaking to the people who voted for the Conservatives in 1979 about aspiration - [those] who want to do better for themselves and their families - work hard and do all the right things," she said.

Margaret Thatcher was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and was the UK's first female prime minister

Moving on to the poor showing by the Conservatives at the last general election, Atkins said the party took "a hell of a kicking".

"There were things we needed to reflect upon and do the hard work of rebuilding," she said.

However, asked about the bookmakers laying odds of 2/1 on her defecting to Reform UK, she said: "I never indulge in political betting, but that ain't going to happen.

"They are not a serious political party - they are not doing the thinking that we need. For example, any farmer who may be listening to Reform should ask why it is that Nigel Farage wants to flood the UK market with chlorinated chicken and hormone treated beef."

Earlier this year, Farage suggested he would be open to lifting the UK's ban on chlorine-washed chicken as part of a deal to avoid President Trump's tariffs on British goods exported to America.

As part of the interview, Atkins said she was planning to host "a food and farming emergency summit" for the farming community to come up with practical solutions to put forward to government.

She said the Conservatives were also the first to oppose the family farm tax, with Badenoch calling it "immoral".

Atkins also defended banning strikes by NHS doctors.

"I was health secretary ahead of the general election [and] I saw for myself the enormous damage the strikes had on people's health," she said.

Atkins said she would do everything she could to support local businesses in her constituency.

"This is why, when we are back in government, we will be stopping business rates for small businesses," she said.

She also called for more funding for policing in the county and said she would oppose the use of former military sites to house asylum seekers, including the former RAF Woodhall, which is in her constituency.

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